


Our Place

by Seda



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: And lots and lots of revenant bashing, But Bulshar either dealt with or ignored, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Happy smut sad smut you name it I got it smut, Like mega angst at points but then mega fluff to make up for it, Nicole the Smarter than she's given credit for, Post Season 2, Smut, Waverly the brave, Wynonna / Nicole brotp, Wynonnus Interruptus (God love her)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-03-24 07:27:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 46,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13806381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seda/pseuds/Seda
Summary: And so the girl gets the girl, and they both live happily ever after. Or do they?An exploration of how Waverly and Nicole's relationship might progress, whilst they and the wider gang work on trying to end The Curse once and for all.Chapter 1: The Decision"Do you want to move in here with me?"2: MagicShe shut her eyes against the prickle of tears starting again; and remembered back to the first time Nicole's touch had made her feel like that...3: The Fight"Fuck me? Fuck me??! Fuck you!"4: AftermathNicole slowly walks her over to the police cruiser. Whispering gently, "Wynonna Earp, I am arresting you for dangerous use of a firearm..."5: Promises"I had this whole speech worked out." Waverly looked into Nicole's eyes with love and affection, and more than a hint of nerves. " 'One year ago today'..."6: The PlanNicole was lost. All she knew was that the three people in the room who had seen the most darkness were apparently on the same wavelength. And that meant something very, very bad.7: Endings and Beginnings"Nicole? You know how I'm always telling you that I don't need you to protect me? Well, today I do."





	1. The Decision

**Author's Note:**

> I have re-tagged, re-summarised and edited this a bit, now whole thing is written. A few notes.
> 
> I've tried best to write in North American English. But, not being, my apologies for any slip ups. (And for the screeching tonal change to notes and comments, which are in my true cocker-nee vernacular ;-) )
> 
> This is terribly un-British of me, but I'm actually a little tiny bit proud of this one. That said, it takes a little while to get going, and I think chapter 1 is probably the weakest. So maybe read as far as 2 before giving up? 3's the best, I reckon (despite, or perhaps because of, being a total bummer of a chapter).
> 
> It was always going to be fairly smutty, but goodness me. I seem to have gone somewhat overboard, with apparently at least one shag a chapter. Whoopsy. So you can probably also just read these as a series of smutty one-shots, too. (These scenes were all genuinely intended to be illustrative of the emotional arc of the story and characters, not for their own sake, I promise...!)
> 
> It all gets hella angsty/dark at some points. Balanced by light and fluff too, is the intention. But be forewarned. Purgatory is a dark and difficult place.

Five grizzled looking men sat round a table in a backroom of a strip joint in a small town in Alberta. The room was dark, starkly lit by a single bare bulb, a haze of cigarette smoke and barely held tension. The table they sat round was a mess of cards, whisky glasses, and ashtrays. High value bills were piled in the centre of the table, and suspicious eyes on shady looking faces flickered round the room. More than one man had sidearms ostentatiously on show on gun-belts. One had taken his out and laid it flat on the table, a warning or a threat.

Outside the room, unknown to its inhabitants, Deputy Marshall Xavier Dolls checked his gun one last time, set his watch timer running, and looked up to his partner. He mouthed "Again, these guys are dangerous, Earp. So remember the plan. Just stick to the plan."

Wynonna Earp; Earp heir, bane of all demons, and royal pain in Deputy Marshall Xavier Dolls' ass, was leaning nonchalantly against the wall on the other side of the backroom's door, fiddling with the relic of a gun weighed loosely in one hand. She looked up, bared her teeth at Dolls, winked exaggeratedly with both eyes, then gave another toothy grin. Then flashed a real smile, and an eager nod.

Dolls boggled back at her, in wide-eyed confusion.

"Teeth, eyes, teeth" whispered Wynonna, miming the expressions again through the words. "Right?"

"Uh,  _what_? I haven't got time to decipher your nonsense now!" hissed Dolls, in the exasperated tone that only Wynonna Earp could bring out of him.

"You _know._ " Wynonna's voice took on a slightly sing-song tone, "You look for the dude with a mouthful of gold teeth, that's the positive ID on McEwan, you shoot him, that doesn't stop him but brings out the revenant rage on Collins, I see the eyes, ID _him_ , he gets a dose of Peacemaker first, then when McEwan gets up...hang on a minute why am I explaining this to you Dolls it's _your_ plan. Teeth eyes teeth right?"

Their desperate whispered conference was interrupted by the door between them swinging open, and a six foot burly biker leaning through the entrance, his voice a threatening rumble.

"What the fuck is going on...oh _shit!_ Boys, it's the Heir!"

Wynonna froze a second as the biker looked at her, at Dolls. And then turned tail and ran, slamming the door behind him. Dolls shot a frustrated glare at her, and she an insouciant one back at him, months'-worth of working side by side managing to convey 'now see what you've done' and 'no harm no foul dude they're running from _us_ ' in a split second's silent communication, as they piled in through the door he'd tried to jam shut, readying their guns to shoot. The table was overturned and money and broken glass rolling everywhere, the back door hanging open as the last set of boots disappeared out, Dolls hot on their trail.

They burst out into the back lot to see four sets of lights already receding as bikes sped away from them, the fifth desperately trying to start his engine. He yelps when he sees Wynonna bring Peacemaker up to point at him.

"Don't shoot I ain't one of them!"

Wynonna hesitates enough to buy him the second he needs to get his bike started, and tyres screech as the bike pulls away and out into the gathering dusk.

"Damn! Earp, what the hell?! We've been setting that one up for _weeks_!"

Wynonna curses, then shrugs. "We'll get 'em. They're not exactly going to win Purgatory demons of the year, are they? Dumbasses."

"Damn. _Damn._ "

They stare off after where the bikes had disappeared for a moment, and then amble back inside the club.

"I swear Dolls, I worry about revenants these days. Did you hear that last one actually screamed? Bobo would be turning in his grave..."

 

* * *

 

Across town at the Earp homestead Nicole Haught was working on her own plan.

She was stood leaning against the counter at one end of the kitchen, pulling from a bottle of beer. Watching her girlfriend move around the kitchen like she was performing a dance, smooth steps and choreographed motions around the table having an effect that was somehow both relaxing, and a little more enervating, on Nicole.

They had picked out a movie to watch after dinner, but they hadn't seen each other outside work for four days; and so Nicole had put on the dark jeans and wide necked top she knew that Waverly liked her in, and was wearing an expression of restless anticipation as well as her good clothes. She smiled as she realised Waverly had dressed up for her too; a smart short skirt and a button down shirt she didn't recognise, tied at the waist to show a tantalising flash of skin when she stretched to reach a high shelf.

Their dinner was bubbling away, and Waverly was just gathering place-mats, knives and forks, glasses for the wine, as she talked through her day. "So it should be a pretty straight-forward operation, the only issue is going to be making sure of the ID. They'll be able to tell one, but the other is going to be harder; and the guys they're hanging with are...well, they're no angels themselves. But they've got everything they need, and a plan in place, thanks to some _flawless_ research from yours truly." 

Nicole grinned at the twirl Waverly built into her movement on the word flawless. She could see in this the unique combination in Waverly that she loved; a gentle self-mocking humour that didn't take herself or the demonic Purgatory business too seriously, but with an undercurrent of genuine pride and satisfaction in what she brought to the party.

"Anyway, Dolls says they can do the write-up themselves this evening, and so I'm off the hook, aaand, all yours." Waverly looked over at Nicole, who caught first the flash of a mischievous smile; then how that led to a quick look up and down her own body, and then the mini-shake of Waverly's head, as if she needed to pull herself together. "Listen to me rambling on again. How was your day?"

"It was good. Come here for a second?"

Waverly put down a salt shaker on the table, then the pepper, and then she hurried the last few steps to Nicole, bringing her arms up around Nicole's neck and allowing their bodies to fall together.

"Yes?"

Nicole swallowed. Reached awkwardly behind her to put her beer on the counter, and let her arms come up to rest on Waverly's waist. She saw the simple happiness in her girlfriend's face, and felt a broad smile breaking out on her own. "You're in a good mood tonight, Waves."

"Mmhmm. A good day's work done, dinner on the stove, and an evening in with my gorgeous girl all to myself. What's not to be happy about?"

"That," murmured Nicole, leaning down towards Waverly and tipping her head into a kiss, "is an _excellent_ point."

 

* * *

 

Wynonna skipped up the steps to the homestead with a brown bag under her arm. Pushing open the door she saw a light coming from the kitchen, but no sign of her sister or her girlfriend. She grinned to herself, then deliberately slammed the front door closed behind her. "Helloo-oo? Anybody home?" Grinned wider as she heard a bang, a muffled expletive, and then Waverly's rather shaky voice float across from the kitchen. "We're in the kitchen! Just a sec, stay there, I'm just serving out dinner, I'll bring you some shall I?"

Wynonna counted under her breath, one to ten, and then strolled into the kitchen. Registered her sister's mussed up hair, and Nicole's flushed cheeks. "Hey, Haught. Hey babygirl. Is that your new shirt? Looking good. You might want to try putting the right buttons in the right holes, mind. Beer?"

Waverly looked down at her hastily re-buttoned shirt, then up at Nicole with an apologetic look, as Wynonna stepped past her to put the rest of the beers in the fridge. "I thought you and Dolls would be out all tonight. What happened?"

"Total blowout. They caught us whispering outside, and actually turned tail and _ran_ , would you believe it? Honestly Waves, I'm less and less impressed by ol' Edwin's one year record these days. Few dozen revenants down and they suddenly seem like less of a challenge."

Nicole cleared her throat. "Are you and Dolls ok?" Wynonna turned, met her eye, and made a face. "We're alright, if you mean neither of us got hurt. He is however having a full on pissy Dolls meltdown about _following plans_ and _duty_ and _responsibility_. Thought it was better I absent myself until he calmed down."

Nicole just nodded at the air-quotes and voice Wynonna used to illustrate her point. "Uh huh. Well, I'm glad you're both alright. Waves is right, there's plenty of food if you want to join us? We were going to watch a movie?" Nicole could hear the faint desperation in her own voice, as a traitorous internal voice begged Wynonna to say no. She caught Waverly's eye from across the kitchen, who was looking at her with a soft and amused look.

Wynonna scrunched up her face again, but turned to her sister this time. "Waverly, I know I'm interrupting, but would you really not mind? I honestly could use some company. Dolls isn't wrong, we kinda fucked up. And every day we waste on this is another day..." She trailed off, unable to vocalise what they all knew she meant. Alice. "I brought beer?"

Waverly hesitated for a second, but this new more open Wynonna was something they were all appreciating, and she didn't want to mess with the closeness it was bringing them. Since she'd sent Alice away she'd changed, more focussed on her mission and perhaps as a result more willing to admit the impact of mistakes, and when she needed help. "Of course not, Wy. More the merrier."

 

* * *

 

Half way through the movie and Nicole had moved off the sofa onto a seat by herself, tired of being squeezed in against the jostling and low level bickering of the sisters. As she sat by herself, separated from Waverly, looking over from time to time and feeling the lack of touch and three feet distance like it was a chasm, she stopped seeing the actors play out on the screen in front of her, and started seeing a scene from her own minds eye.

 

It was a long time ago. Before they were together, before they were anything really. All Nicole knew was that there was something about Waverly Earp that made her want to find out more.

She'd put the instant attraction she'd felt to her that day in Shorty's down to the obvious: Waverly was stunning, and a girl that hot swaying to music lost in a world of her own, and then contriving to find a way to take her top clean off right in front of Nicole was always going to have quite an effect.

But it was more than that. Nicole just couldn't seem to get Waverly Earp out of her head. Especially after all that went down with Shorty. The way she'd looked at her at the wake. The way she'd _reached_.

So when she'd walked into the break room at the station one day to find Waverly already there at lunch, she practically jumped; and felt her heart jump too.

Waverly looked up at the interruption, then her face broke into the sunniest smile Nicole thought she'd ever seen.

"Hi there Officer! I'm sorry, I'm hogging the table, here let me tidy these up." she said as she gathered the papers into a single pile.

"No problem at all, don't stop on my account. Do you mind, though?" Nicole gestured to the free seat at the table and Waverly shook her head and made her own 'go ahead' gesture, with another warm smile. Nicole sat down and pulled out her own lunch; feeling, much to her own surprise, ridiculously nervous. Mollified when she saw Waverly's eyes flicker up to her and then back away again, looking more than a little shy herself.

"So, Black Badge got you working through lunch, huh?" Nicole said by way of a starter.

"Oh no no, this is for fun. I mean, fun for me. I'm kinda a local history nut."

Nicole saw the head tilt of embarrassment there, and couldn't place the source of it.

"Is that how you've come to be working for Black Badge then? I have to say, when I saw you at Shorty's I didn't expect to see you here, uh..." Nicole trailed off.

"'How's a waitress like you end up working for a stick-up-the-butt like Dolls?', you mean?" Waverly teased.

"No, no, I didn't mean like that at all! It's just an...interesting career combination. I guess I'm wondering why Shorty's, not why Black Badge."

Waverly looked pleased, then shrugged. "Small town. Limited job options. Anyway, I've worked at Shorty's forever, it's practically a family home by now."

Twenty minutes later they were chatting away easily, lunches finished and forgotten. Nicole tried to keep the friendly banter the right side of flirtatious for the work place, but wasn't helped by the liberal smiles and eye contact Waverly held just a fraction too long. She caught herself just gazing and gazing at Waverly as she explained to Nicole some of the research methods she'd been pioneering in Purgatory.

"See, in the old frontier towns there wasn't always a lot of written records, with towns coming and going so quickly, and so much being lawless. But there's a lot of oral history, which stands up if you can get independent sources to corroborate each other. And there is some written history, if you know where to look for it. Like, did you know the history of Purgatory is written in its street names?"

Nicole had an elbow on the table, her head supported on her hand, and the ghost of a smile on her face. She shook her head, then nodded her eyebrows up to encourage Waverly to go on.

"So obviously you've got Constitution Avenue, running off Main Street, and then Scenic Street off that? Parallel to the back of Shorty's?"

Nicole nodded.

"And does Scenic Street seem very scenic to you?"

This time Nicole frowned. She'd never thought about it before, but now she did, the name didn't make sense. It was a row of dumpsters and abandoned garages now, but even mentally removing those Nicole could see the view would just be a rising bluff going nowhere and without any sort of scene at all. She looked questioningly at Waverly, who was looking back at her with a wicked look in her eye.

"If you go to the town museum you'll read about Constitution Avenue being named after the first constitution. Obvious, right? But it's not."

Nicole gestured with a hand, a 'come on get on with it' circle with her finger. Waverly beamed to see Nicole hanging on her story.

"Shorty's has been there for ever, in one guise or another. But obviously back then there was no indoor plumbing. The outhouses were round the corner, where the drinkers would go for, uh" Waverly coughed delicately and dropped air-quotes around "a constitutional."

Nicole got it suddenly, and grinned.

"And again, lawless frontier town that it was, round the back of the saloon bar was where you went to find working girls. If you know where to look, you'll find sources from those days refer to Scenic Street as 'Seen to' Street.

Nicole frowned, puzzled again. Waverly raised her eyebrows.

"Where you might go to get seen to?"

The penny dropped, and Nicole laughed out loud at the reality of the origin of the grand sounding street names. "You worked that out yourself from your own research?" Nicole leaned back in her chair, laughing still, and feeling a rush of affection for the happy look she could see on Waverly's face as she nodded, pleased both with herself and Nicole's reaction.

"Whoo boy. Ok then, remind me not to try to get anything past you then."

"Oh no Officer Haught, I've already got your number." Waverly looked straight at Nicole, a smile on a face that could be construed as a challenge, a flirt. But Nicole thought she could see that nervousness there again too.

"Is that so?" Nicole saw the nerves come through stronger, saw Waverly bite a corner of her lip.  _Careful now, Haught,_ she thought. Deliberately put her tone back to a normal one, soft and steady. "I'm not completely sure I've got yours, yet, Waverly. But that's ok. I'm not in any hurry." Saw it was the right choice when she saw gratitude, then a shake of Waverly's head, as if to clear it.

"Is that the time? God, I'm so sorry Officer, I've used up your whole lunch break boring you with all this stuff."

"It's not boring, it's great, Waverly. Thank you for talking to me about it all, it's honestly the most interesting conversation I've had since I moved to Purgatory."

"Really?" Nicole heard the unsure tone, and realised she was really asking.

"Really."

Another grin. Then a bashful shrug. "Champ says I talk about this stuff too much. I guess he's heard it all before, though."

_Champ_. Nicole felt like she had been punched. She'd forgotten for a moment. Looked away, and heard herself say in a low voice, "Champ. Right." then, horrified at how transparent she was being, forcing herself into a more jovial tone she didn't feel at all, "Well, I think Champ's lucky to have such interesting company."

The silence stretched. Nicole gathered herself to look up, and felt her heart lurch as she saw Waverly looking intently at her, head slightly tilted, an unguessable look on her face. Maybe questioning, maybe working something out. She looked so beautiful, and Nicole lost herself for a second just looking. Then caught herself again, cleared her throat. "I've gotta get back now too, Waverly. But maybe we'll run into each other here another time?"

Waverly just nodded. Stayed still, so still, as she watched Nicole get up, gather her empty wrappers, and leave the break room.

 

* * *

 

Nicole was pulled out of her reverie by the feeling of her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out, puzzled about who would be messaging her at this time of night, and then felt the melancholy lift when she saw.

[Are you alright over there? I'm sorry about Wy :( ]

Nicole had just started to type out a reply when she heard Wynonna snort.

"Are you two _texting_? What are you, teenagers?"

Waverly shot back "Well, when we're being chaperoned like teenagers."

Wynonna grinned. "Look, I've seen you two on movie night. I've _heard_ you," she said, looking pointedly at Waverly. "And whilst I'm very happy you two are going for relationship of the year, you don't expect me not to have a little fun with it?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Waverly, one half mock indignation, one half genuine. Wynonna just chuckled again.

"Well, anyway, I know when I'm beat. And I am beat, I'm off to bed. I know how this one ends, anyway."

Nicole commented, innocent look on her face, "What, the movie, or...?"

"Really Haught? You're really going to sit here under my roof and crack jokes about your defiling of my little sister?"

"Hey!" interjected Waverly, louder this time. 

But Nicole just smiled sweetly back at Wynonna. "I don't see why not, you do."

Wynonna sniggered. "Fair. Right, well on that note, good night. Night sis. And keep. It. Down." she said, wagging a finger at each of them.

"Night, Nonna. We will." Waverly said, mortified.

Once Wynonna had safely left the room, Nicole came to sit next to Waverly, and breathed a deep contented sigh as her girlfriend reached out to finally touch her; just a caress of her face, but meaning everything for all that.

"Are you ok, sweetie? You looked a million miles away there."

"I'm fine. I was just thinking...do you remember, that time at the station? Our first lunch?"

Waverly thought for a second, then chuckled. "Oh yeah. Me going for the full nerd? Sure."

Nicole looked at her, asked carefully. "Do you remember what you were thinking?"

Waverly sighed. "Yeah. Kinda. I didn't know what I was doing really, only that it was somehow really, _really_ important to me that you didn't think I was just some dumb small town waitress." She rolled her eyes at herself, and went on drily "I can't ever imagine why, but I guess I wanted to impress you."

Nicole grinned. "Well, you succeeded."

"I'm glad. Hey though, why were you looking like that then? That's a lovely memory."

"Eh...this is going to sound so stupid, but...you kinda mentioned Champ."

Waverly's expression softened. "So I did. I remember. You looked so sad."

Nicole half-smiled, ruefully.

"I mean, you weren't the first person to hit on me at Shorty's, and then find out I had a boyfriend. But most guys would be all bluster like they didn't care. Or the shy sweet ones would just look disappointed. But I remember you that day, you were so happy one minute, and then the next you were just so _sad_. Like you had lost something."

"I was." She shrugged. "And I had."

"Aww, sweetie. I'm so sorry."

Nicole shrugged one shoulder again. "It's ok, Waves, what, were you supposed to run back out of the bar with me that first time we'd met?"

"Yes. Uh huh." Waverly said this seriously, and looked just as seriously into Nicole's eyes, as she brought her hand up against Nicole's face again. "I regret every moment I lost before you, Nicole. And I'm not going to miss any more."

Nicole felt a lump in her throat, and, not knowing what to say, leant forward to express herself with a kiss. It started soft, like it was the Nicole from back then, shy and amazed at the gentle touch and the feeling of Waverly's lips brushing back against hers. Then, she was the Nicole from Nedley's couch, excitement building and deepening their kisses, until she came fully back to the present and herself, the Nicole who had been doing this with Waverly for a while now, who knew that if she kissed her, and slipped an arm round her waist, and up under her shirt at the back, and _pulled_...

Waverly groaned into the kiss, and tried to lean further into Nicole for a second, before realising she couldn't get enough contact that way, and shifted, and then swung herself around and straddled Nicole on the couch, pushing her back into the back of the seat, kissing Nicole feverishly as she slipped both hands round the back of her head. She pushed her body and her hips as far forward and against Nicole as she could, and felt hands come up and anchor on her hips, pulling her in and steadying her.

Waverly sat back for a second, pulled her long loose hair back, as Nicole looked up at her in a haze of desire, using the opportunity to undo the buttons on Waverly's shirt again. When she finished she ran her hands under the shirt and over her shoulders, breath coming shakily now as she saw the toned body and pretty bra in front of her. She let her hands trace down Waverly's front, skirting her breasts, back of her hands caressing her stomach. Waverly was watching her intently, and when Nicole's hands reached her hips again she rocked herself slowly, deliberately against Nicole.

This time it was Nicole's turn to moan, a sound Waverly stopped up with another open mouthed kiss, and then fell back from it as her breath started coming faster as Nicole pushed her own hips up and at her, a rhythm starting to build.

"Uhh...bed." Nicole managed to gasp out. "Bed." echoed Waverly in a whisper. She felt Nicole tense and, realising what was happening, held Nicole's shoulders as she rose from the couch taking Waverly with her, a wicked grin as she held her a second before letting her drop, Waverly smiling too. "Still got it then?" she teased as they made their way up the stairs and towards the bedroom, an undignified lurch of hands and stumbles and kisses.

In the bedroom and with door closed Nicole leant into Waverly, kissing down her neck and pushing her open shirt fully off. She felt Waverly's hands run under her own shirt, and let her pull it off too, before pushing back against her, letting their open mouths meet and tongues caress as they kissed each other again, desperately, harder.

"God, I missed you Waves" Nicole whispered, letting her right hand slip down and under Waverly's skirt, felt Waverly arch her body into her, breathe out "Me too. Me too. _Nicole_..." as her hand moved back up again, "uh, Nicole...wait, hold on. Close 'em."

Nicole laughed breathily as she took a step back, closed her eyes, and reached down to pull off her socks, amused at their private ritual. Waverly hated being seen taking her tights off, thinking it the least sexy thing she could think of, and had teased Nicole for more than once being so distracted in hurriedly tearing off her own clothes that she'd ended up completely naked except for her socks. So this little time out routine was an indication that they meant business, and Nicole could feel a shiver throughout her body in anticipation.

"Open. Here." Waverly sat on her bed, now just in her skirt and a light blue lace bra, desire etched on her face. Nicole stood and just took her in for a second, then walked over, shivered again as Waverly started placing light kisses across her stomach, undoing the buttons at Nicole's fly, and pushing her jeans down. Waverly moved to kiss down to the line of Nicole's underwear, and then couldn't wait any longer, and climbed fully up on to the bed and pulled Nicole down on her.

Nicole placed a knee either side of one of Waverly's legs, her arms either side of Waverly's, and held herself up as long as she could, their eyes holding each other and unspoken communication flowing between them, a silent round of _I love you_ and _I need you_ and _I want to savour this_ and then  _but I can't wait_. As she finally lowered herself and their bodies met full length neither could stop themselves from moaning, and as Waverly reached round to undo Nicole's bra, pulled it off, and then moved her hands up against her now naked breasts, Nicole cursed out loud, her hips jerked into Waverly in an unconscious response, this drawing yet another moan from Waverly.

They started to rock against each other, kissing and caressing as the rhythm built again. Nicole somehow found the zipper on the skirt and managed to push it off, and Waverly replied by slipping a hand inside Nicole's underwear, whispering "Oh my god Nicole, you missed me?" Her lover was unable to find words to reply and so just nodded, as she moved her own hand down to Waverly's underwear, pulling them half way down her legs, then slipping a thigh up against her and pushing, knowing that the feeling of constriction from the elastic and warm pressure from Nicole got to Waverly just _so_. Smiling as she saw eyes flutter shut and felt the clasp of hands against her back which meant she was right again, kissing her again softer and more tenderly this time, knowing she couldn't wait much longer but trying her hardest not to rush it.

"Nicole, please. Please, just touch me." And so Nicole did, finally letting her hand sink down Waverly's body and just rest between her legs for a second, before letting a finger run up through the heat and the wet to find Waverly's clit, gasping herself at the feeling that washed throughout her entire body at the touch. She stopped and wrestled Waverly's underwear off completely, and then hers, as Waverly took her own bra off, and then they came back together, and Waverly pushed up to kiss her, and Nicole's hand went back to its position, and they started to rock, to push, and to pull, and the heat between them rose, and rose. And then suddenly it wasn't enough, and Waverly was grabbing Nicole's hand and pushing down, and she took the hint, and slipped two fingers further down, and then looked up at Waverly, and holding eye contact, she pushed in.

" _Oh_ my god Nicole, yes, oh my god _yes_..." 

The whispers and moans spurred Nicole on, as she readjusted her position lower so she could get the angle to bring her thumb up against Waverly's clit at the same time as rhythmically thrusting her fingers deep inside, eyes squeezed shut and her head at Waverly's breast, taking the chance to kiss there too as she worked and thrust and felt herself slip off to some heaven where all she could feel was Waverly; the amazing feeling of being inside her, the touch of her hands in her hair, her chest rising and falling faster as they gasped, and panted, and Nicole picked up the pace again, and heard the curses and affirmations from above take on a louder and more instinctive timbre, and Waverly's hips started to jerk irrhythmically, and Nicole couldn't stop her owns gasps coming out voiced, as she felt Waverly's orgasm start to approach, and build, and then she knew it and felt it simultaneously as Waverly's insides pulsed and she cried out and clasped at Nicole's shoulders. Nicole rode it out, keeping her fingers inside but slowly stilling her movements, both of them just holding on to the other.

Waverly pulled at her shoulders weakly, and when Nicole came back up she pulled her in for a short hard kiss, then fell back onto the pillow, still breathing heavily.

Nicole hovered above, and Waverly smiled when she recognised the combined look of both satisfaction and restless desire still there, and the slow movement of her hips not completely stopped. Often she'd come just from fucking Waverly, but apparently not this time; so Waverly raised a shaking hand and smoothed it down Nicole's side, down her hip, and then pressed Nicole to raise herself up.

Nicole was so close already that Waverly had barely started to touch her when she too reached a shattering climax, shivering and cursing and then falling on her back alongside Waverly, limbs useless and liquid.

"Jesus Christ Waves. My _god_."

Waverly was also lying flat out, but with a few seconds' head start on her recovery over Nicole, managed a chuckle as she reached out and took a hand, and squeezed it. "You did miss me, then." 

"Ohh, _yeah_. Yes I did."

Just then there was a thump on the floor from downstairs, then a muffled "Enough now? I'm trying to sleep down here!"

Waverly cringed, and curled into Nicole, hiding her head. "Oh shit-balls, were we loud again?"

Nicole was still floating, too blissed out to really care. "Er, yeah, we might've been, a bit."

"God, how embarrassing." She snuggled in against Nicole, and pulled the covers around them, starting to feel heavy and sleep not that far away. Heard Nicole's voice as if from a distance, "We'll stay at mine next time eh?"

 

* * *

 

So they did. Their next date, a Saturday night where neither the demonic nor regularly irregular citizens of Purgatory had calls on their time, was spent at Nicole's house. They actually got through the movie this time, and both being tired and a little bit drunk from sharing a bottle of wine, they fell into bed and then simply to sleep.

The next morning, they made full use of the privacy of Nicole's home.

 

Later on that morning Waverly stood drinking a cup of coffee, the sunlight of the first warm morning of summer bathing the room. Waverly stood in a pool of light, studying the pictures Nicole had framed up on the wall, as Nicole pottered about clearing up dishes from their late breakfast. There were a series of views, of mountains and deserts, and a couple of quirkier close-ups too, of cactus flowers, of a bird on a branch.

"Did you take all these photos yourself, hon?" Waverly called out.

"Yep." Nicole stuck her head round from the kitchen. "Do you like them?"

"Mm. They're really really good, Nicole. I mean, obviously the views help, but the composition, the light and color balance..." she reached out and touched one. "Where's this one from?"

Nicole walked over, wrapped her arms around Waverly from behind, nuzzled into her neck, kissed the join with her shoulder. Felt Waverly melt a little into her embrace.

"Mmmm...don't avoid the question, Nicole."

"Sorry. Which one?"

Waverly pointed.

"Oh. Er, that one's from Nevada actually." She said it in a light voice, but felt Waverly stiffen a little.

"Oh. Right."

"I'm sorry Waves. I can take it down?"

Waverly turned around, looked seriously up at Nicole. "Don't be sorry. It's you, and it's your story, and it's where you've been and what you've seen, and, well," Waverly shrugged. "I love you. I love all of you, and I don't want you to have to hide anything. I just guess...it would be nice to have some up here from our time, one day?"

Her voice sounded so plaintive, that Nicole thought for a moment. Frowned, as an idea came to her.

"Waves?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to move in here with me?"

Waverly's eyes widened, shocked. Nicole let go, embarrassed, and tried her hardest to ignore the small sting of disappointment.

"Of course not, sorry forget I said that, we've not been together all that long..."

"Hey, don't run away." Waverly stepped forward and took one of Nicole's hands, guided them to sit down on the couch next to each other. "You just surprised me, I hadn't thought of it before."

"Neither had I, honestly Waverly, I don't know what made me say that."

Waverly thought for a second. Said in a soft voice. "It's not too soon, Nicole. I miss you every night we're not together. And this..." she took a breath, and gathered her nerve. "We're not just dating, are we, Nicole? This isn't just any old relationship for you, is it?"

Nicole shook her head, feeling a flutter inside.

"It's not for me either. But...I don't think I want to move in with you here. This place is you. And the homestead, that's me. Well, it's the Earp part of me, anyway. But maybe, what if we found somewhere that was _us_?"

Nicole looked into Waverly's eyes, shining now with excitement at the idea. She looked around her home, thinking how she'd found it herself, set it up herself, decorated it how she wanted it. How she'd been on her own for a long time now, and was used to it, and was _good_ at it. How she'd always been able to stand on her own two feet.

And then looked back at her lover, and realised she wasn't alone any more, and more than that, realised she didn't even want to be.

She breathed out. "Yeah. I think that would be really great."

Waverly let out a sound half-way between a shriek and a whoop, hugged Nicole, and then jumped to her feet. "Oh my god just wait until I tell Wynonna she's going to _freak_. Can we get your laptop, see what we can afford? Would we buy new furniture for our place, what do you think? Oh my god this is going to be so much fun."

Nicole sat back, a little stunned at what they'd just decided, and at how quick and easy a decision it had been. Warmed by the slanting sun and warmed inside, she looked up at the woman she loved, and smiled.

_Our place. Yeah._

 


	2. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, chaps. This one's a bit of a bumpy ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's just about possible I may have gone completely overboard with every conceivable part of this chapter.

Sunday evening, and Waverly practically skips up to the homestead, feeling giddy with her news. Starts yelling whilst still opening the door. "Wynonna, have I got - " stops dead as she sees Wynonna sat on the couch, papers strewn around her, in front of her, on the floor.

"Hey sis," she goes on, in a quieter voice, as Wynonna looks up a little bashfully and nods hello. "Find anything?"

Wynonna sighs. "Not really, no. This is more your area of specialty, baby-girl."

Waverly looks fondly, a little sadly at her sister. Knows that she's going through the copies of their research again knowing it is fruitless, looking more for comfort than any new clues; to feel like she's doing something, _anything_. But knows also that it's cruel to call her out on it, so keeps the charade going, even though she knows her sister can read her actions just as clearly in return.

"I'll have another look in a minute, 'Nonna, I might have missed something. But first, can I tell you something? About Nicole and I?"

Wynonna looks up, her troubled expression clearing instantly into an incredulous grin. "She proposed _already_?"

"What?! No. Wait, 'already'? You think we're going to get married?"

Wynonna rolls her eyes. "I think you guys _are_ married, it's just a question of when you get round to the formalities. Anyway, if that's not it, what is it?"

Waverly paused, feeling slightly deflated at how small her news sounded now, going on almost sulkily "We're going to move in together."

"Um. Okay, well I'm sure that's fine, but didn't you want to perhaps ask me first before agreeing that?"

"Ask you? Why, Wyn, do I need your permission to live with my girlfriend?" Waverly said, a little snippily.

"Well, if I'm going to have to share our let's-be-honest not exactly over-appointed house with her, then yes. It would've been nice to have been consulted."

Waverly's irritation falls away as she gets it. "Oh. Oh, no, Wynonna, not _here_. Not Nicole's either, we're going to look for a place together!" She can feel the excitement bubble up again, still feeling irrepressibly happy at the idea of it.

Wynonna sits back, looks levelly up at her sister. Asks carefully, "Are you sure that's a good idea, baby-girl? You're safe here." 

Wynonna sees her sister's face fall. Knows that for all Waverly has sacrificed for the Earp family, for all she loves her work, and the slow success it's bringing them, Wynonna knows that sometimes she's a small town girl who craves just the occasional moment of normalcy.

"But Nicole's a cop. And it's not like I never leave here, something could happen any time I'm in town."

"I know that, Wave, but this is a safe bolt-hole when it's all going to shit." She sighs, re-arranges her expression into a kinder one, trying not to pour too much cold water on her sister's evident excitement.

"Ok, listen. This is a you and me whiskey conversation tonight; and then an us and Dolls one tomorrow at the office. Plan?"

Waverly nods, mollified. "Ok. Plan. I'll get the drinks?"

 

* * *

 

"This guy is giving me the creeps, Waves." Nicole whispers, as they follow the shiny suited and slightly sweaty agent around the latest house viewing.

"What do you expect, he's a realtor. They're all like that." Waverly whispers back; looking distractedly round the property thinking of potential security measures. After a number of long discussions between herself, Wynonna and Dolls, they'd agreed that if they could find a place which could be made safe, with good visibility, strong perimeters, and close enough to the police station, they thought it was an acceptable level of risk. This one was looking promising, a small stand-alone property with a solid looking build not two minutes out of town.

"And, ladies, if you just step in here, this is the second bedroom. It would be perfect as a study, or for a child, as you can see." he says, winking exaggeratedly at Waverly. She returns his comment with a polite smile, and then when he looks away catches Nicole with an amused look, as they step inside what was obviously a teenaged boy's room, hockey and band posters covering the walls.

Nicole looks around, mentally removes the messy socks and posters from the room, nods. Looks at Waverly, sees her eyebrows raised asking the unspoken question; nods again. Sees Waverly beam, and has to restrain herself from going over to Waverly and kissing her. Clears her throat instead, and turns to the realtor. "And when did you say it would be available from?" Frowns as he doesn't move to answer, but instead closes the bedroom door behind him, the nerves that had been jangling throughout the viewing flaring now to a full adrenaline alarm when she sees him lock the door, and turn around with all pretense dropped.

"Oh, you _ladies_ don't need to worry about that." His eyes flash red, and his voice changes deep and sinister. "You won't be in any position to take it."

But the triumphant and evil look he was going for falters for a second, as his prey fail miserably to cower before him.

"I _knew_ it! See, what did I say?" Nicole grumbles, reaching into her pocket and feeling for her phone.

"But this place is still going to be available, right?" Waverly blurted out, looking more panicked at the loss of the house than their situation. Also slipping a hand in her pocket, catching Nicole's eye.

The revenant stood flummoxed for a second.

"Don't you idiots get it? I'm going to kill you."

"Yeah? With what?" asks Waverly, nervously casting her eye around the room for a weapon. Nicole wasn't bringing her gun with her on these visits, thinking it would make a less than ideal first impression.

"With what?! With my bare hands if I have to!" He too is looking around, his burning eyes flaming as he sees and grabs a hockey stick that had fallen down behind the bed.

"Whoa, whoa, ok, let's just talk about this for a second first, ok?" Nicole the cop came out, putting her body between Waverly and the revenant, one hand held out in front of her, one behind finding Waverly's, desperately trying to buy time. "What is it you want, we can work something out, ok?"

"I want the heir's sister. _You_ are not important."

Waverly saw it all in slow motion, the hockey stick start to swing, Nicole squaring up to it at the same time as Waverly tried to pull her back, the sickening crunch as the blade met her head. Nicole's stumble back and then her legs crumpling as she falls, as Waverly desperately tries to catch her and cushion her collapse to the floor. She feels bile rising in her throat and tears starting already, as she sinks to the floor with Nicole, leaning protectively over her, thinking that her eyes must be burning as red as the revenants', now standing smugly over them both. Not recognising the broken and feral sound of her own voice as she wrenches out, "My sister is going to fucking _end_ you."

The revenant laughs. "Your sister doesn't even know where you are."

A splintering crash behind him, and the door bursts open, revealing Dolls holding a police-issue battering ram.

"Wanna bet?" Wynonna asks as she strides into the room. Instantly takes in the scene of Nicole lying unconscious in Waverly's lap, the blood, her sister's tears. Raises peacemaker, foregoes the chance to tell this one to make his peace, and just snarls "Go to _hell_ " as she pulls the trigger.

No-one even watches the fires pull him down, but just huddle around Nicole. Dolls feels for a pulse, looks up at Waverly and nods, smiles encouragingly. "Is she hurt anywhere else?"

Waverly can't speak, just shakes her head, as Wynonna pulls Waverly back and into her arms as Dolls tears off his padded jacket, gently rolls Nicole over into recovery position and carefully lays the uninjured side of her head down onto the wadded up jacket. Watches for breath and feels for her pulse again as he looks at his watch and counts. Wynonna is talking on the phone to 911 with one hand, and with the other arm she holds Waverly, who is sitting in a tangled broken jumble, holding one of Nicole's hands, staring at her in desperate love and in panic, tears coursing down her suddenly young-looking face.

 

* * *

 

The three wait together at the hospital. Dolls looks grave, and paces back and forward. Wynonna is shaken but resolute, and sits with one arm still wrapped tight around a lost looking Waverly, squeezing and patting her shoulder in lieu of anything meaningful to say.

Dolls clears his throat. "Jeremy's app worked then?" Waverly looks up. Swallows, wipes her eyes. Manages to speak, her voice hoarse. "Yeah. Thank God for Jeremy. And thank God you made us practice, Dolls. You were right, it really was second nature." Dolls smiled kindly at her, feeling that fond amazement that the younger Earp brought out in people. How she could possibly be thinking of saying something kind to him, or compliment Jeremy, at a time like this?

But he was pleased, nonetheless. It was mostly his idea, to have a satellite trace on each of their phones; and Jeremy had worked out the software overrides to allow a distress signal to be sent to all the others at the touch of a button. Even Dolls' advice to not see any houses too far from the station had probably made the difference between their responding in time or...not.

He turned again at the end of his pacing track and saw one of the doctors who'd been working on Nicole approach.

"Ah, excuse me Doctor, is there any news on Nicole Haught?"

"And who are you?" she asked him, not unkindly.

"I'm her colleague...well, friend. But this here,"

Waverly had stood, arms crossed tight across her body, as the doctor asked who she was too.

"I'm her - 'Nonna why do they keep asking that? - I'm her girlfriend. Her partner." Waverly's voice shook.

The doctor looked sympathetic. "We've taken her to the intensive care unit. She's very sick, but we're taking the best care of her we can. You're not married?" Saw the shake of the head. Went on in an apologetic voice. "Then I'm so sorry miss, I can't give you her more detailed medical information. Hospital policy."

"Now then, what's going on here?" Sheriff Nedley strolled unhurriedly up, nodded to Dolls, squeezed Wynonna's arm, then took her place next to Waverly, and put a protective arm around her shoulders.

"Hello, Sheriff" said the doctor, warily.

"Hullo Berniece. Did you know Miss Earp here works as a consultant to us at the station? You're allowed to give the Sheriff's department detailed medical history to us if we need it for our enquiries, and ah," he broke off as he looked carefully at Waverly. "We need it."

The doctor looked grateful for the out. "Ok then. And you two?" she looked a little more skeptically at Dolls and Wynonna.

"US Marshalls, ma'am."

"Er, deputy?"

"Ok then. Come through here." She held open a door to a side room and waited until they'd all sat before sitting down opposite Waverly, and addressing her. "The good news is that the MRI showed there's no continued bleeding. And she came in with very strong vital signs."

Waverly tried a smile. "She's strong."

The doctor nodded. "The, ah, less good news is that she's got quite severe bruising in the brain, and we won't know exactly what that means for her just yet. So we're keeping her asleep for now. Don't let the terminology scare you, but technically we're keeping her in a coma."

Waverly looked down, took a breath, and said in a small but steady voice. "I understand. Can I see her?"

The doctor hesitated, looked at Nedley. "For police reasons?" Nedley replied gruffly, expansively, "Sure, why not?"

"Ok then. If you're sure? We're helping her breathe with a machine at the moment, and monitoring her very carefully. Some families find all the equipment quite distressing."

Waverly turned and looked at Wynonna, who held her eyes as Waverly said in a stronger voice, "We're not just any family."

 

* * *

 

Waverly sat in the ICU, next to Nicole's motionless form. Nicole looked awful; her already pale face sallow, dark bags under her eyes, bruising spreading down below her hairline; and tubes and wires everywhere, making her look almost half-machine.

Waverly still thought she looked beautiful.

She felt calmer now that she was with Nicole. Even though Waverly realised the worst may already have happened, even though she knew the blow could have caused, in the terminology of the hospital, life-changing injuries. She was here, and she was alive, and Waverly was with her, and for that moment, it was enough.

A nurse stopped by, and Waverly managed a genuine smile up at her as she checked the readings on the machines against the chart.

"Can I - can I touch her?"

The nurse placed a hand on Waverly's shoulder. "Sure you can, honey. Stay away from her head, and the monitors, but you can hold her hand if you want?"

"Thank you. Thank you."

She waited until the nurse had stepped away again, and gingerly, carefully, slipped her hand under Nicole's. Took a deep shuddering breath at the surge of emotion she felt at that simple contact, the feeling starting in her stomach and then building quickly to a wave that washed over her. Shut her eyes against the prickle of tears starting again; and remembered the first time Nicole's touch had made her feel like that.

 

It was way back when, somewhere in that magical time between first meeting Nicole, and first kissing her.

After their charged first encounter, Waverly started to notice that she _noticed_ Nicole. In a way that first made her try not to think about it at all, but before too long made her think about what she was thinking, to obsess over it.

A briefly held eye contact as Nicole came in to Black Badge's offices to drop something off. A smile from across the station. One day, an unplanned shared lunch break, and then soon after, the unplanned happening again, and then slipping into habit. Laughing together at something or nothing, easy and alive in each other's company. The whole time Waverly growing more and more conscious of the presence of Nicole, the easy and smooth physicality of her, the way she moved.

Waverly was just so _conscious_ of her. And when she stepped close in passing, or held eye contact in one of her warm and open smiles, Waverly started to feel something more. Something she wasn't completely sure she recognised: a warmth which started in her stomach and then spread, flooding her whole body with a nervous, fluttering sensation.

One thing she does work out. One late night, pretty drunk from an evening spent downing whiskey with Doc and Wynonna, in the dark and left on her own with her thoughts, she is finally too tired to stop herself from going there. For the first time she lets herself wonder what it would feel like for Nicole to kiss her. For her to kiss Nicole back.

And then once that line's been crossed, it's so easy to wonder what it would feel like to touch her, to be touched, to press her body up against Nicole's...she tries not to but can't help thinking it, and then can't help reaching down, and touching herself, and then imagining it was Nicole's hand on her...and she is shaken by how easily she comes, and how hard.

At least that is a thing she understands.

But one day, Waverly is stood at the break room counter cutting up tomatoes for her salad, Wynonna behind her wrestling with the coffee machine; and Nicole in the process of squeezing between them puts just a light hand on Waverly's shoulder, and as she moves past, her other hand drops to touch her lower back; and then she's through, and it trails off her hip and away.

And Waverly stands frozen, hands clutching onto knife and counter, that buzzing feeling in her stomach again, stronger than ever, and everything fades out for a second except for the memory of that touch.

A thought comes out of somewhere deep inside her. _I love her_.

And the second she's thought it, she knows that it's true.

 

Back in the here and now, she opens her eyes from the reminiscence, and fixing her gaze on Nicole, whispers it out loud. 

"I love her. God? If you're there? I love her so much. I...I know I don't do this much. At all..." she trails off, shaking her head, not believing what she was doing. Waverly Earp didn't pray, having lost her faith in a benevolent God at an age most children are just learning about him. She pressed on.

"I don't believe in you. Not really. But if there can be revenants and hell, I guess there can be a...you."

She paused.

"And if there is, I know you must work in pretty mysterious ways." She sounds less bitter than she could.

"But I've accepted it, you know? What you've done to Wynonna and I. You took momma, and daddy, and Willa; and I've accepted it. I don't complain."

She stares at Nicole for a long time, and then continues in a barely audible whisper.

"I know I'm not supposed to be selfish. But please..."

She feels herself well up again.

"Please let me keep her. Please let me keep just this." Tears start to fall again, and she pulls her hand carefully back so she doesn't disturb Nicole with her sobs.

"Just please let her be ok."

Waverly holds her head in her hands, and cries.

 

* * *

 

The longest night of her life crawls past. And then dawn breaks, and with it hope breaks too. The swelling is reducing, and they start to take Nicole off the machines and let her slip into a natural sleep.

In the early evening of that day Nicole wakes up for the first time. Waverly is there to see it, and laughs, and cries with happiness and relief to see Nicole's eyes search her out, find her, and a peaceful look that is completely Nicole settle on her face.

Waverly gets some sleep that night.

The next day Nicole's talking, and the doctors look pleased, and the tests are good, and Waverly takes herself off to a quiet room, and cries again, and thanks God. And then squares her shoulders and starts to think about a future again.

Three days after that she's cleared to go home. No-one even discusses where home means; Wynonna just turns up with blankets piled in the back of her car, and Waverly climbs in with Nicole, holding her hand and barely looking away from her as they drive straight to the homestead. Nicole complains that they're coddling her, but allows it all the same, allows the Earp sisters to help her out of the car and up to the homestead and back into Waverly's bed.

That night Waverly sleeps in the bed next to Nicole. Though they're trying to be careful, trying not to risk hurting Nicole's still tender head, in the night their bodies overrule their intentions, and they tangle together; Waverly wrapping her arms around Nicole and Nicole sprawled heavily across her and Waverly feeling like she'd found there was a heaven after all, and it was here, it was Nicole.

 

* * *

 

"Guys, quit _fussing_. I promise I'm ok!"

Wynonna had called an all-comers Earp emergency conference. Dolls and Doc, Waverly and Wynonna, Jeremy and Nedley sat in a variety of chairs round the living room of the homestead, whilst Nicole was given pride of place and the sofa to herself, covered by an unnecessary blanket from Waverly, handed a truly redundant third cushion by Wynonna. She laughed, looked at Nedley.

"When are you going to rescue me boss and let me come back? I'm going stir crazy with these two!"

Nedley harrumphed. "You can come back when the doctor says you can come back, Nicole. And not a second before."

Dolls cleared his throat. "So, thank you for coming, everyone. We've called this meeting to review our security measures, in light of, uh, recent events." His eyes flicker to Nicole, who raises her hand and drily jokes, "Thank you, thanks folks, I'm here all week." Waverly mock glares at her flippancy, but then that fades into the happy smile she's been wearing ever since they came back from the hospital together.

"54 revenants down, 23 to go, and they've mostly gone quiet. And _we_ got complacent. So. First, the basics.  Comms. Jeremy's app saved Nicole's life."

Wynonna called out "Can I get get a whoop, whoop?" Waverly chiming in "Can I get a hell yeah!", both sisters giggling at the looks everyone gave them and Jeremy, who was dropping small showy bows to all and sundry.

"So. Phones on, and with you, at all hours. Have you all got spare battery packs?" Nods all round the room, except for Doc, who squinted at Wynonna. "Yeah you do Doc."

"Good. Use 'em. Next, weapons. Nedley, Nicole, I know the Sheriff's office has got guidelines about being unarmed off duty, but we need you to make an exception."

"That's granted, Deputy Marshall. Nicole, we've drafted standard paperwork, you'll sign one each time you come off shift, ok?"

"Yes boss."

"Ok. Last, living arrangements. Jeremy, Nedley, we think you're the least connected to the Earps in the revenants' eyes, but you still need to be careful. If you review these packs," Dolls handed them each a black dossier, "you'll find suggested security upgrades, revised wiring and alarms systems connected to our app, and a full protocol for you, your family and any visitors to take in the event of any incident."

Jermey took his eagerly and started flicking through it, nodding. Nedley's eyes boggled a little as he saw the detailed plans of his family home. Jeremy leaned over, "I can put that in for you, and - you still got your J220 security alarm set-up? I can adapt it." 

"Thanks, kid."

"Good." Dolls went on. "Now, Earps, Doc. You're here and protected by the ammonite. Nicole, you're here for now. But I'm worried by your house. It's not as easy as the others to come up with a security plan. And you're obviously an, ah." Dolls had the good grace to look awkward.

"Key kidnap target?" Nicole's voice is matter of fact. "I know. But I've been thinking. You know that Waves and I talked about finding somewhere else and moving in together." She cast a nervous look at Waverly, before going on, "and I'd still like to do that, if we can."

"Nicole." Waverly said quietly. "We've not talked about this yet."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I wanted everyone to hear me say that."

Dolls sat back, scratched at the back of his head. "I don't know, Haught."

"How does the ammonite work?"

Everyone stares at Nicole.

"No, I mean, I know it's protective, but how?"

Jeremy shrugged. "It's magic."

Wynonna chuckled. "Hey, I thought you were some hot shot scientist, is that all you got?"

Jeremy smiled, warming to his theme. "I _am_ a hotshot scientist. But scientists try to explain what actually happens in the world, we shouldn't use science to say it can't. And magic most _definitely_ happens. I mean, Black Badge officially calls it Non-Replicable Situationally Specific Supra-Physical Phenomena."

Dolls nods. "The NSPs, for short."

"But we mean magic." Jeremy grins.

"Ok, but how does it _work_. Where is the ammonite?" Nicole pressed on.

"Oh, it's all around us. This homestead is on a bed-rock of it, but you've seen all the ornaments around the house too."

"So those are pure ammonite? Where does that come from?"

"Usual process. Most metal is in ore in rocks in the earth, you just need to extract it to get it pure. And most ore will be found around where the purer deposits are. I guess they probably mined it straight from the ground around here, it's bound to be thick with it."

"So the ammonite is there in the rocks, right? And it's still got its magic?"

Jeremy shrugs, nods. A realisation starts to dawn on Waverly's face, and she looks at her love, impressed. "Baby..."

Nicole sits up, leans forward. "So, what you're telling me is that as well as sitting on a bed-rock of the stuff, we're surrounded by earth and stones that carry a magic protective force with it?"

Jeremy gets it, then Dolls. Waverly gets up, walks over to Nicole, leans over, and completely ignoring the company, kisses her soundly and long. Stands again, smiles down at a pleased-as-punch looking girlfriend.

"Anyone got a shovel?"

 

* * *

 

In the end it takes two shovels, four shovellers, a JCB digger, a tipper truck, and an entire weekend's hard slog.

A few weeks after the summit at the Homestead Waverly and Nicole had found another perfect house. It was single storey, a bargain for not being in the best state of repair inside, but solidly put together and, more importantly: in its own plot of land. They'd put down first and last and a month in advance, and explained carefully to the landlady that they were _very_ keen gardeners, and there was nothing like the soil up at the Homestead for roses. Nicole had used every inch of charm she had, turning up in full uniform and raising her Stetson and assuring the nervous homeowner that there was absolutely nothing unusual about wanting to dig a three foot trench around the perimeter of her property, and then fill it back in again with apparently identical earth.

So one weekend Doc and Waverly took turns with the mechanical digger, carving out a deep scar in the ground; whilst Nicole and Dolls took care of the excavations at the homestead. Jeremy dropped by periodically to pick up samples of the earth to take away and test for concentration of ammonite, and to do his level best not to stare at Dolls with his top off, glistening with sweat as he dumped another load of rock and soil onto the tipper truck.

Wynonna was missing in action, having mumbled something vaguely about a housewarming present, and so it wasn't until late on the Sunday evening, the last rays of the August sun combining with a hard day's labour to have them all standing exhausted and dirty and thirsty, gulping down bottles of beer, that her car drove up.

Nicole was standing and watching Dolls put the last touches of earth in place. Waverly was leaning into her, an easy arm slung around her girlfriend's waist; she looks up at Nicole and smiles, and Nicole can't help but lean and kiss her. None of them notice Wynonna pull up, step out of her car.

"Heeeyyy! Looking good!"

Waverly breaks away and runs to Wynonna, and gives her a hug. "And how did you know we just finished, Wy? Great timing, sis!" She's too happy to even pretend to put any effort into the tease.

"Listen, I've been looking all over for this. It's your perfect present." Wynonna looks nervous, and fidgets with the pendant at the end of her key necklace.

Waverly narrows her eyes. "Wynonna...what have you done?"

"Ok. Well. I know Dolls is sure about this. And Jeremy has tested it at Black Badge. But," Wynonna drops her tone, says just to Waverly, in a hiss, "you're my _sister_. Besides which, Haughtstuff will kick our asses if this doesn't work, and we'll never hear the end of it."

She walks around the back of her car, opens it, and gestures extravagently at the bound, gagged, struggling revenant held within. "Monsieur Number 61, for your testing delectations."

Waverly shakes her head and puts her hand on her sister's arm, laughs. "Just what I've always wanted, Wy. Ok, then. How are we going to do this?"

 

The ammonite trench passes the test with flying colours, the revenant herded against the boundary but unable to pass; then bundled under a blanket by a rush of nervous hands, and then taken round the back out of sight of nosy neighbours to be sent back down to hell. 

One by one the others drift off, and leave Nicole and Waverly to their first night alone in their new place. Nicole shifts her Stetson back on her head, holds a hand out to Waverly, who takes it. They look into each other's eyes, and both take a deep breath, as they walk up to their place: to the first day of the rest of their lives together.

 

* * *

 

It's fall, now. Their place already feels like theirs. Nicole's pictures stand in picture frames on the rows and rows of shelves that hold Waverly's books. An enormous couch dominates the living room, big enough for Nicole's long legs to stretch out as she watches TV, and for Waverly to sprawl between them; reading a book or reviewing research most evenings. Until she turns around; and shifts her concentration onto Nicole.

 

One Saturday morning they're up early, taking advantage of a forecast sunny day to do some final old jobs around the house before the weather draws in. Waverly drifts past Nicole who is half way up a step-ladder, frowning and working at a fuse box that looks like it dates from the days of Wyatt Earp. Waverly grins and tugs at the bottom of the no-nonsense toolbelt Nicole has strapped around her waist as she passes on the way to the kitchen.

"Hey!" Nicole objects.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. It's just that," Waverly tries to hide a smirk. "You do like your belts, don't you?"

Nicole attempts a glower at Waverly, but fails. Summons up her best Officer Haught voice, and says "It's _practical_. Look. Here's my screwdriver, here's the multi-meter, here...here's..." She drifts off, as she sees Waverly's eyes grow a little hazy as she looks up at Nicole going through the various pockets and tools secured there.

"Nicole? Is that fuse box going to be ok if you leave it for a little bit?"

Nicole's heart starts beating a little faster.

"Oh, maybe. Why?" She's still two steps up the step-ladder, and doesn't hurry to start coming down, but just watches Waverly's chest rise and fall, a little faster too. "What are you thinking about, Wave?" she asks, dropping the flirty tone for some genuine curiosity.

"Oh...just. Ah, I mean. Well..."

Nicole does actually frown now, and descends the steps to stand in front of Waverly. She puts her hands on her shoulders. "Waves?"

"Erm. When we were first getting together. I mean. I suppose I might have...erm. Done some research."

Nicole laughs fondly. "Oh yes? And what did you learn?"

Waverly looks up at her. She looks almost comically caught between embarrassment and desire. Whispers "Things about belts, Nicole. I forgot until just now. But I think you'd be really, really hot, if you had..." she trails off, mortified.

Nicole laughs again. Looks up to the ceiling once, looks down at her girlfriend, takes a deep deep breath; and then leans over, and starts kissing her.

 

* * *

 

Fifteen minutes later and they are in their bedroom, naked and breathless. Lying on their sides, facing each other, Nicole smoothing her hand up and down the curve of Waverly's hip, as they trade soft kisses. The kisses and touches are slow and loving, both in their normal Saturday morning mood of excitement and desire but aware of the whole weekend stretched out in front of them; neither in any hurry to speed up what they're doing. 

Waverly runs her hand through Nicole's hair, feeling the slight friction of the patch they had to shave at the hospital that has never grown back quite the same since. She starts to feel the something she's only ever felt with Nicole, and rolls over to her back, barely having to hint with a small pull on Nicole's side to get her to lie on top of her.

Normally they would entwine legs now; each now expert in the angle and pressure that they love. But Nicole is distracted; and she's pretty sure Waverly is thinking along the same lines, as she settles her hips fully between Waverly's legs.

Nicole holds herself up for a second, steady and still, and looks down at Waverly. She then lowers her upper body, until they are in touch the full length of their bodies, just barely grazing lips; and then she rolls her hips forwards into Waverly. Waverly moans.

"What were you saying about belts, love?"

Waverly looks up, serious. She brings her hands up to Nicole's sides, and fixes her eyes. Wearing that Waverly Earp look of determination in the face of something that scares her. "Not a belt, Nicole. A harness. With...with a strap-on."

Nicole swallows, her eyes drift shut a second. She lets her upper body fall down even more, allowing a little more of her weight to lie on Waverly. Moves herself down Waverly's body a little, feels Waverly open her legs more and shift to accommodate her. Nicole opens her eyes again, drops her lips onto Waverly's, and as she kisses her, presses into her a little harder, once, twice, a little harder.

"Uh...fuuuck." Waverly's hands rise up around her back, and tighten. "Yeah. I think...I think that would be really, really good, Nicole."

"Mmhmm. Tell me why." Nicole realised she had started to move in a steady rhythm. She felt a pulse between her legs, and a feeling of strength building in her that she hadn't felt for a long long time. Not since before her hospitalisation.

It had an effect on her, on the cadence and meaning of her movements. And she saw the effect it was having on Waverly too, her girlfriend's breaths growing fast and shallow, her hands starting to flutter instead of pulling on her back.

"I think...it would be really hot...if you...uhh...if you..."

"Yes, Waves?" Nicole had started to thrust in serious now; a feeling she couldn't explain building and building between her own legs. She tried not to over-analyse the feeling; nothing was really touching between her and Waverly, and so it had no right to feel so, _so_ good.

But it did. Waverly looked up at her, naked desire on her face, getting past the point where she could call words into her service. Instead she just tilted her pelvis up even more, wrapped her ankles round the back of Nicole's legs, and pulled, and moaned, as Nicole thrust at her, insistent, instinctive, hard.

"I agree." Nicole managed to whisper in a low tone, between panting breaths. "I think it would be really hot...uh...if I, if I held you like this..." Nicole gripped onto Waverly's shoulders with both hands, "And kissed you like this...and if you could feel me...inside you... _fucking_ you like this."

"Oh my god, oh my god oh my god..." Waverly started to gasp, and her body pushes and arches into Nicole's, and she reaches one hand up to the bars at the head of the bed to try both to anchor herself and gain purchase for her own desperate movements. She closes her eyes as she feels one of Nicole's hands follow the line of her side down to her hip, and hold there a few moments as she just thrusts and thrusts; and then the hand rises back up again, skipping up her side, moving inwards for a second to touch and caress her breast, before reaching on up her arm to finally wrap round her own hand holding onto the bars at the top of the bed. Waverly didn't understand how it was happening but it was with the feeling of that tight and steady grip as Nicole continued her thrusts between her legs she felt herself start to climax: as her hearing faded out the last things she hears are Nicole's gasps and cries as she jerks desperately at Waverly and they are both coming, both crying out, both tumbling down the other side of orgasm to a shaking sweaty mess.

They are both trembling, neither able to speak for the longest time. Nicole doesn't even try like she normally does to roll off of Waverly, both shook and feeling so connected to each other, not wanting to break the naked contact up and down their bodies.

Waverly comes to language first. "Oh, my _god_ , Nicole." She feels a brief shake of the body above her, correctly interprets it as a weak laugh. "What was _that_?" Waverly asks, dazed.

Nicole still has her head nuzzled into Waverly's neck. She gets a fraction of her strength back, and takes a bit of her weight off Waverly; but can't bring herself to lift off completely. She kisses the neck to the side of her, and then raises herself up a bit more, and feels her eyes fill with tears at the sight of Waverly looking up at her, so full of trust and love and wonder.

"I don't know. Magic. You're magic." she breathed out.

Waverly shakes her head.

"Mm-nnn. _We're_ magic."


	3. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love's pretty tough, sometimes.

They throw their first dinner party a little after that, for Waverly's birthday. When everyone has left Nicole gets out one more birthday present that she'd been saving for private. Upon opening the parcel, Waverly's eyes widen, and then twinkle excitedly as she hands the two items contained straight back to Nicole.

Halloween comes and they decorate, carving out pumpkins and spooking the trick-or-treating kids with some in-very-poor-taste-for-Purgatory revenant based costumes. "They've gotta learn", giggled Waverly whilst putting on the finishing touches to her red eye make-up.

In the run up to Christmas they pick out twinkling lights, blue and gold decorations, a frankly enormous tree that takes all of Nicole's height and Waverly's stubborn wiry strength to wrestle into place.

Christmas morning they wake up together, and both are overcome with emotion, lying in bed so close, gazing into each other's eyes; both feeling like they've already been given the greatest gift on earth, in each other.

 

* * *

 

But, of course, living together has its challenges.

Nicole discovers that Waverly, for all her ordered thinking and impeccable appearance, is actually surprisingly messy to live with. She learns that behind all those perfect date night outfits that Nicole used to look forward to lies a half dozen discarded combinations, strewn across their bed and on every available bedroom surface.

For Waverly's part she is initially grateful for, but then increasingly irritated by Nicole's picking up after her. She's always loved her girlfriend's steadiness and regularity; but when Waverly's tired or stressed, and Nicole barely waits a second before standing and picking up the boots left where Waverly took them off to place them neatly by the door, it feels a lot like being got at.

So sometimes they snap at each other, sometimes they raise their voices a little. But always, always, the love that binds them is stronger than any of these small irritations.

 

* * *

 

There is also the fact that other discoveries made whilst living together more than compensate for the problems.

 

They already knew that Nicole ran hotter than Waverly. What they now stumbled upon was a fix to the problem of a cold Waverly cuddling up against an overheating Nicole, by the latter simply stripping her top off in the night when it got too much.

And it was a fix that suited them both. Waverly would wake up to Nicole stretched out on her front, covers pushed down, naked from the waist up. Waverly would push herself half-up on an elbow to admire her long, smooth, subtly muscled back, the contrast of the pale skin against the striking red hair, the softness of the faint curve of a breast disappearing into the mattress below. Some mornings she'd lightly kiss a cheek to wake her, sometimes she'd just gaze at Nicole's restful face turned towards her on the pillow.

Waverly really, _really_  liked Nicole's back. Those mornings she couldn't help herself but place a hand on a shoulder. If Nicole was awake she'd open maybe one eye, smile at her lover, and then allow it to shut again, a content and sleepy half smile staying on her face as Waverly starts to move her hand. She'd start caressing Nicole gently from the nape of her neck down to the line of her pyjamas, and then back, and around; soft and careful at first, and then gaining a little bit of intent.

Then it would be a private game of chicken as to who would crack first. Often it would be Nicole, who would roll over, pull Waverly down on her for a searing kiss, and then roll them both back over again, prompting happy and mischievous giggles from her girlfriend.

But sometimes Nicole would hold firm; and allow the caresses to continue, until Waverly's breath starts to hitch and come short. Until she replaces the touches with kisses, until she drapes herself over Nicole, pushes her red wavy hair back and to the side so she can press a kiss to the dip between Nicole's shoulders. She would watch with satisfaction Nicole roll her face more into the pillow, her expression shifting to a frown of concentration, and her lips parting a fraction as Waverly reaches round her hip, under her body, between her legs. Watches Nicole reach up and hold on to the bedspread, as Waverly starts to rock her hips against Nicole's ass, as Nicole in turn pushes herself down onto Waverly's hand.

 

* * *

 

"So, remember I'm out with Wynonna tonight?"

"Mm." Nicole was on her laptop, distractedly trying to get the ancient machine to deal with the photos she'd taken over their first holiday season living together. She thought she'd caught some really good ones, and had half a thought of making some up into a photo book to surprise Waverly with.

She had that planned for this evening whilst she'd be on her own, as well as possibly catching up on some of the TV shows which Waverly couldn't quite stomach. She felt a little guilty for it, but she'd actually been quite looking forward to the evening in by herself.

"Hello? Did you hear me?"

Nicole looked up surprised at the irritable tone in Waverly's voice. "Yes Waves, I remember. You know what you'll be doing yet?" 

Nicole looked at Waverly with her usual calm and even smile, trying not to react to her girlfriend's tone or distinctly off posture, hands on hips and pursed lips. If anything this seemed to get to Waverly more, who tossed her hair and said half under her breath as she walked off, but not quiet enough for Nicole not to hear, "Don't miss me or anything."

Nicole stopped what she was doing completely and turned around.

"Hey. Hey, Waves? Why you being like that?"

Waverly came back, coat on and wrapping a scarf around her neck. Looking equally annoyed and ashamed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's with me today. Just...a couple of months ago I remember us being excited to go _grocery shopping_ with each other. Now look at us. I've got Wynonna, you've got," a faintly dismissive flick of her hand at the laptop "whatever you've got. It's just so - I don't know. So something."

Nicole looked confused. "Are you ok Waverly? Do you want me to come with you?"

"No! God! There's nothing wrong with me. Listen, it doesn't matter. I'm just in a funny mood. I'll see you later, ok?"

Nicole stood, leant and grabbed Waverly's hand before she could walk away again.  
"Wait a minute. I love you, ok?"

Waverly's face scrunched up, then she looked up at Nicole with a softer look. And with a softer voice, "I know. I know. I love you too. I'm sorry. I really am just in a funny mood."

Nicole nodded, smiled uncertainly. "Well. Ok then. Have a good night. Hi to Wynonna?"

"Yep. You too. See you later."

Nicole watched her turn and leave, shaking her head in bewilderment.

 

* * *

 

"To number 66!"

"To the late Ms Revenant 66!" Waverly clinked her shot glass off her sister's, swallowed, and then without hesitation waggled the empty at the new bar hand. "Bobbi? Another couple of those when you've a moment?" She turned to Wynonna, sat on the stool next to hers at the bar. "So, how was this one, they still playing hard to get?"

"Uh huh. It's getting tougher and tougher Waves. We need to _do_ something. Something more."

"But we're getting through them, Wy. Only 11 to go, that's _huge_." Waverly was trying to be encouraging, although she knew her sister was right. They really didn't know what they could do that they hadn't already done.

"I don't know." Wynonna said miserably. "We've been through all your research a _bajillion_ times. Dolls has exhausted all his Black Badge connections. Doc has done his pretend bad boy act so many times there's not a revenant left in the county who doesn't know he's a white hat really. This last one was mostly just luck."

Wynonna sipped her whiskey. Carefully avoiding her sister's eye, she said, quickly and quietly like if she said it like this it wouldn't hurt so much, "I miss her, Waves. I should _be_ there for her."

Waverly looked tenderly at her sister. "We'll get them, Nonna. We'll find them, and you'll put them down, and then we'll go and get your beautiful daughter and bring her back where she belongs."

There was a long silence as both just sipped at their drinks, lost a little in thoughts of what could've been. Until Wynonna shook her head, sat up, and tried to move the conversation onto what she thought would be a happier subject.

"Anyway, fuck 'em. This is supposed to be a night out, not a Black Badge bitch-fest. What's going on with you? How's the domestic bliss going?"

Waverly let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh.

"Oh, fine. Little miss perfection is amazing, as usual."

Wynonna stared at her sister in incredulity. She'd never heard her talk about her partner with anything other than adoration, so the sarcastic bitter tone visibly shocked her.

"Waves? What the hell? Bobbi? Two more please!"

Waverly waited til her glass was topped up and then took a big sip, screwing up her face a little and wincing as this time it burned down.

"It's great. _She's_ great. But I'm not. I get moody, or I just need to be alone to read and think, and she looks at me with her big puppy dog eyes, but she doesn't ever get angry, or shout at me. She just _understands_."

"Uh...Waves? That sounds like a good thing?"

"Well it's not!" Waverly burst out, angrily. "God, Wynonna, you don't understand! She's so _perfect_ , so good to me. And she thinks I'm so perfect too, but I'm not, I feel like this big baby half the time, and this stupid fucking Earp screw-up the other half. And I feel like I'm trying to live up to this impossible idea she's got of me, and I _know_ sooner or later I'm going to fail." She shook her head, frustrated.

Wynonna looked genuinely confused. "You're not a fuck-up, Waverly."

"Maybe not compared to you", she grumbles.

"Hey! Thanks a lot!"

Waverly sighed. "That's kinda my point though Wy. I mean, when we were growing up, sure compared to you I looked good. But objectively speaking." Another sigh. "I always sold myself short."

Wynonna looked surprised at this admission, and Waverly replied by grimacing again, and going on in a wry tone. "I'm not completely stupid, 'Nonna. I know I was settling. Those boys I dated...and those 'friends'." Waverly illustrated her disdain with air quotes. And then went on in a quieter tone. "But when most of those you love are missing presumed dead..."

"Or stuck in juvie." Wynonna added.

Waverly reached over and squeezed her arm, to show she wasn't angry at Wynonna. "Or stuck in juvie, yes. You take what affection you can get. Even if you know that it's not really for you, but for this fake you that you've created."

"I'm so sorry, baby-girl."

"Oh hey, don't worry, please. I know it was worse for you. But it's not just that. I mean, I never left town, never even went to college. Did you know at Purg High they were saying with my grades I should be applying to Ivy League schools? Or Oxbridge?"

Wynonna's mouth dropped. "No, Wave, I didn't. Fuck."

"I know, right? So, ok. I know I wasn't getting into fights or spending nights in the drunk tank. But in my own way I was still fucking up."

Waverly finished the last of her whiskey, leaned over the bar, helped herself to a glass, and then pushed a beer tap back to pour it. Repeated the gesture for Wynonna, who waved at the horrified waitress and with a vague scribbling motion gestured that they should be put on their tab.

Waverly took a gulp and went on, the three whiskeys she'd drunk in quick succession starting to have an effect on the volume and expansiveness of her speech.

"And then Nicole comes along, and she's so amazing, and it's like my world just opens up. And she's so great, and kind, and I don't know why but she really likes me, like actually likes  _me_ this time. And she's cool, and she's hot." She giggles a little tipsily. " _God_ she's hot, Wynonna. You have no idea."

"Oh please, we used to live under the same roof remember?"

Waverly giggles again, and then grows serious. "It's been so good, 'Nonna. But I'm still me. And now she's living with me I can't hide it. What if..." She trails off. "What if she realises what I'm really like, and doesn't like it?"

"Wave."

"What if she stops loving me?"

" _Wave_."

"I love her so much, Wynonna." Waverly said, sounding almost heartbroken. "What if...what if she  _leaves_ me?"

"Waves!" Wynonna grabs her sister by the arms, spins her round on her stool, and leans forward to look her in the eye.

"You have gone around the _bend_ , Waverly. I have never seen two people as crazy for each other as you two. And you are _awesome_ , and Nicole is lucky to have you."

Waverly still looks forlorn, but maybe a tiny bit reassured by Wynonna's words.

"And anyway, I'm sorry but Haught-Stuff isn't exactly perfect either."

"What? Yes she is!"

Wynonna laughed; her sister going from complaining about Nicole to defending her with an endearing look of offended outrage.

"Er, _no_? Have you forgotten you're-not-an-Earp-gate?"

Waverly looks Wynonna in the eye, not able to pretend that she wasn't hugely upset by that whole period; but not wanting to re-ignite the anger at Nicole that she'd put a long way behind her. Said in a soberer voice.

"Ok. That wasn't great. But you know she thought she was just trying to find the right moment...she said she was trying to protect me."

"Ok, so strike one. Next, she was seriously pissy about the Black Badge stuff."

"I know, but...we talked about that. You know how seriously she takes her work. She just wanted to help."

"To protect and serve, right?"

"I guess..." Waverly said hesitantly. Beginning to see where this was going.

"So, ok. That's two. Three, she doesn't hesitate before putting herself between you and danger. And I'm sorry Wave, but she's really _really_ bad at it." Waverly glares, Wynonna waves a hand agreeably, taking it back with the gesture. "You know what I mean, sis. If I never see you next to her hospital bedside again it'll be too soon."

Waverly visibly flinches, still not able to think without a surge of emotion about the last time she thought she'd been about to lose Nicole. Unable to speak, she just nods.

"So, that's three. But, ok there's a theme right? One - trying to protect you. Two, trying to protect the citizens of Purgatory, very noble I'm sure. But I'm sure in her head 'citizens of Purgatory' means you. Three, trying to protect you."

Waverly looks up, unable to argue. "Ok. I get your point. I just feel like such a big baby sometimes. Like she doesn't trust me to be able to cope with anything."

"She doesn't think you're a baby, she just _loves_ you, Waverly. She's made some _huge_ mistakes, but they've all been because she loves you." Wynonna takes a big sip of her beer, and lets a wicked smile break out. "And a few dirty bras and a bit of PMS is not going to change that one bit, trust me."

"Hey!" Waverly slapped Wynonna's arm, but looked at her with shining grateful eyes. Waverly felt warm again, understanding that everything her sister said was true, and really that she knew it all along, but needed to hear someone else say it all the same. "Thanks, sis. You're the best, you know, Wynonna?"

"I know it. Now. This is supposed to be a fun night out. Let's blow this place off, see what's going on at the Silver Steer."

 

* * *

 

 

The sisters both felt lighter for sharing the sadness they'd been carrying around. Unfortunately when an Earp loosens up and blows off steam, they _really_ blow off steam.

So Waverly never even noticed the ping of her phone as one message came through, and later another. Then they were dancing on the tiny dance floor of the town's one late-night bar, a whirlwind of long hair and twisting bodies, when her phone rang in the bag that was sat off unattended on a table. 

And then by the time they were staggering out into the night together, Wynonna heading off to the floor of the Black Badge offices and Waverly for the short walk to her home, their joint tuneless and joyful rendition of the last song they'd heard drowned out the sound of another ring, then another.

 

* * *

 

Nicole had initially enjoyed her night in. She'd got her photos edited to her satisfaction, ordering them first by event, then by theme, and then just deciding to go for a collage that they could put up in a single frame. Sitting back and looking in satisfaction at the collection of smiling faces, of the selfies of herself and Waverly which were a little out of focus but carried so many happy memories, of the photo of Waverly wrapped up against the cold holding a steaming hot chocolate in the cutest woollen hat and scarf. 

Of them all together on Christmas Day. Nicole remembered them all being more than a little tipsy, and Nicole and Wynonna locked in private battle as Nicole tried to take some serious and tasteful photos for posterity whilst Wynonna goofed around photo-bombing every picture she could. Doc looking thoroughly ridiculous in his waistcoat, old time shirt, and unkempt mustache, sporting also a pair of massive novelty moose slippers and an inebriated grin. Dolls, stood stiffly in every photo, hating the attention and the most adorably un-photogenic person Nicole had ever seen. 

Nicole felt that through Waverly she'd gained more than just the love of her life, but a whole family as well; and for someone with her history, it was such a good feeling.

She felt so warm, and so happy indulging in these memories, that's she'd completely forgotten the mini bust-up she'd had with Waverly. She reached for her phone and typed out a quick message.

[Thinking of you, gorgeous. Hope you're having a great night. xxx]

She then put her phone aside and forgotten as she got on with putting through the photo order online.

Later, after finishing an episode of the grisly detective series that she enjoyed just as much for picking apart the police procedurals as she did the drama, she idly checked her phone to see if she'd had an answer. Frowned a little to see not even a couple of kisses, Waverly's standard response when she didn't want to be rude to the people she was with but wanted to let Nicole she was thinking of her too.

 _Hmm. Sure they've got a lot to talk about_ , she thought.

Nevertheless, ten minutes later she couldn't help from typing another.

[Just wondering when you might be home? Don't hurry, just I might go to bed in a bit.]

This time, she was very conscious of the lack of reply. She put on the next episode of her show, but couldn't really concentrate, so went to take some laundry out and hang it up. Looked at her watch a little while later.

_Ok, Nicole, you're being crazy. It's barely gone 11, Waverly's a big girl, her sister's with her with Peacemaker. It's fine. Everything's fine._

An hour later, and she phoned, to hear it ring through to voicemail.

Half an hour after that, she phoned again. Then, feeling her eyes prickle, not sure if it was due more to fear or frustration at herself for getting into what she knew was a ridiculous state, she phoned again. Nothing.

Fifteen anxious minutes later she had just got up to go find her coat and gun, to go out into town to look for Waverly so that at least she could feel like she was doing _something_ , when she heard a scuffle at the front door and then saw it burst open, Waverly hanging on to the door handle and swinging in with it, almost falling completely.

"Whoa! Heey, sweetie! How's my beautiful Haughtie doing?"

Nicole felt a rush of relief, and then as soon as the rush had come it left, leaving a sick feeling and adrenaline curdling into anger. Before she could think about what she was about to say, she heard herself shout. "Where the hell have you been?"

Waverly frowned, swaying slightly in her place. Said in a confused voice. "What?"

Nicole took a deep breath, and tried to keep her tone low. Only half succeeded. "You've been gone hours, it's dark, it's late, it's _Purgatory_ , I've been texting you, I've been phoning you, why didn't you pick up?"

All Waverly heard was the angry and brittle sound of Nicole's voice. Coming so soon after she'd voiced her fears to Wynonna for the first time and thought she'd had them allayed, she felt her own anger rise. "I've been _out_ , with my _sister_ , like you know I was Nicole. I'm sorry I didn't check in with you every _ten minutes_ , but we were having a good _time_!"

"I don't need a check in every ten minutes, Waves. But when I phone _three times_ you could pick up just once."

"Why are you phoning? What did you think we were doing, playing russian roulette with a bunch of revenants?"

Nicole shifted, a little caught out. "Well, no."

"What _did_ you think, Nicole? I'm late and you haven't heard from me. I'm out drinking with my sister. Have you _met_ my sister? Did it occur to you that it's a ninety-nine percent chance that it's just because we've got drunk and carried away?"

Nicole stared at her, lost for words. She knew that she had a point, but wanted Waverly to understand hers. "But, Waves, I was worried. What if - "

"Didn't you know that the revenants are hiding from _us_ , now? That I spent half the night consoling Wynonna because she doesn't know where the next one's going to come from - and I agree with her, by the way? What, we were just going to stumble on some in the middle of Shorty's and get ourselves in danger? That in the small, remote, _teensy-tiny_ chance that that were to happen we wouldn't raise the alarm? Didn't you think about that?"

"Stop _doing_ that!" Nicole burst out, tears starting to well in her eyes from the anger and frustration and the awful, awful feeling that was the two of them shouting at each other.

"What?"

"I know you're smarter than me, Waves. I know you can run argumentative rings around me, even when you're - "  she scoffed, gestured at Waverly, "in this sort of a state. But stop making me feel stupid! I know it was a small chance, but you're my girlfriend, and I love you, and I just need to be able to - "

" _Protect_ me?! Jesus, I know! I spent the whole night..." Waverly's own tears had started, and she carried on in a rising hiccuping voice "I spent the whole night...and Wynonna said...and I believed her...and then I come home to, to - " she took a great shuddering sob, and waved her arm at Nicole "to _this_."

Nicole just stared at her. Felt the bitter word that had been tossed at her prod and then wake up the parts of her that had been sleeping quietly for months now. Waverly and Wynonna had been talking. About her. Waverly and Wynonna were leaving her out of their discussions on the revenant strategy. Waverly didn't need her to protect her. Waverly was angry at her. Waverly...the way she'd said that last word...Waverly was _disgusted_ by her.

It was almost an out of body experience, as she heard her own voice say, in a low and defeated tone. "You know what, Waves? Fuck you."

"Fuck me? Fuck me??! Fuck _you_ , Nicole! Just...fuck..." Waverly's tears were streaming now, as she tore off her coat, balled it and flung it to the side, and pushed herself off to the kitchen. Pulled down a glass, a bottle, sloshed a helping of whiskey into it, crying and shaking her head, and stumbling off to their bedroom, where she slammed the door, opened it again and slammed it again harder. She took a deep drink, then another, nearly gagged, and then threw herself down onto the bed, sobbing into the covers, until the rage burned out into exhaustion and the liquor and the late night pulled her off into a dead sleep.

 

Nicole stood in the living room of their house, hands and jaw clenched, shaking.

 

* * *

 

Five minutes later Nicole was walking through the crisp frozen snowy streets of Purgatory, the biting February cold providing the slap to her face she needed.

She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to get away from the house, from the awful, sickening atmosphere of their argument. She walked as fast as she could, like she could outrun the churning in the pit of her stomach. Like she could outrun Waverly's words, repeating in her head. 'To _this_.' 

When she found herself standing outside the police station, she laughed bitterly at herself. Of course. The one place she felt she still had some respect.

As she stepped inside the still quiet of the nearly empty station she saw Nedley look up from the duty desk, surprised and a little concerned.

"Good evening, Nicole. Everything alright?"

Nicole was a little bit taken aback by the use of her first name. She'd come here to escape being Nicole, seeking out Officer Haught. She responded accordingly.

"Yes, sir. Everything's fine sir. Just couldn't sleep."

Nedley looked at her, and she could see he saw through her. "Hmph. Well, come on through." He waved Nicole to a desk next to the duty station.

"I didn't know you were on tonight, sir."

"I wasn't. Murphy called in sick."

Nicole looked at him, curious. "One of the rookies should be covering that, sir. I would've covered."

Nedley quirks a lip, not quite a smile but not quite not one.

"Let me explain something, Officer Haught. If you're going to be Sheriff one day it might be worth you learning a few tricks."

Nicole nodded. She was incredibly grateful for what she could see Nedley was doing. First, seeing that she wanted to hide behind her office this night, and addressing her accordingly. Second, the casually dropped reference to the conversation they'd had about her future. If she ever needed to feel like someone had confidence in her, now was the time.

"You need to be respected. You need to know that you can give an order, and that your men - I'm sorry, _people_ \- no offense meant."

"None taken, sir."

"That your officers will follow your order without question. And for that you need to command respect. Now, respect is partly the Sheriff's badge. But it's partly earned. You need your officers to see that there is nothing that you would ask them to do that you wouldn't or couldn't do yourself. Including pulling the occasional double shift to bail out a colleague."

Nicole nods, storing away the advice, flattered to be let into his confidence like this.

He leans over conspiratorially, and stages a whisper, completely unnecessary in the otherwise empty station. "It also doesn't hurt to be simply liked. And from time to time, don't push it, but from time to time to just do something  _nice_ , can work wonders."

Nicole laughs, and feels a shot of relief that there's still a part of her that's capable of that. "Oh, sir, I'm afraid you've got a problem there."

Nedley leans back and raises his eyebrows.

"Your secret's out. We all know you're a softy underneath it all."

Nedley harrumphs, but Nicole thinks she can see he's secretly pleased.

"Careful, Haught. Now, one more thing."

"Yes sir?"

"Being the Sheriff also means being able to hold your head when everything is going to pieces around you. It means being able to focus, whatever else might be going on. Whether that's things going on on the job, or - " he pauses, looks kindly at her. "Or off it. So, Officer Haught. I have my own work to be doing, and would be glad to be shot of Murphy's write-ups. Do you think you can concentrate?"

Nicole squares her shoulders. "Yes, sir." She takes the pile of papers Nedley offers her, and settles down at a desk.

She's just a minute into the first when Nedley speaks again.

"Nicole?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Nicole blinks hard. "No sir."

"Ok."

 

* * *

 

Waverly wakes up feeling sick. There's one blissful second when the worst she's facing is confusion as to why she's still in her clothes, and why she's alone in their bed. Then the memories rush in, and her stomach drops.

"No, no no no, no..."

Desperate, disoriented, and maybe still feeling some effects of her final whiskey, she hauls herself up and out of the bedroom, lurches into the lounge, looking for Nicole, thinking she might be sleeping on the sofa at least. Starts to feel real panic when she doesn't see her there, or in the kitchen, or anywhere.

She has to visit the bathroom, and then pulls off her clothes in favour of some clean pyjamas, and sinks a glass of water while she searches for her phone.

She's in the bedroom when she hears the front door open, and then softly close. A rush of emotions flood her, and she stands and walks into the lounge, desperate to see Nicole, but fearful of facing her at the same time.

Nicole is hanging her coat on the back of the door, then turns to face Waverly.

She looks distant, and tired, and so, so sad.

"Hi" ventured Waverly.

Nicole looks at her for a second, then looks away. Waverly feels her heart clench, and fights back the tears she can feel starting already.

"Hi", whispers Nicole. Waverly knows her girlfriend, knows her so well, and though they've never fought like this before, knows she'll need space. Nevertheless she can't help taking a single small step towards her, and feels a stab of pain as Nicole flinches back.

She takes a deep breath and then another. "I'll make us some coffee."

Nicole follows her slowly into the kitchen, and sits at the table, her body language turned in on itself, defensive. _So un-Nicole_ , Waverly finds herself thinking.

She puts the two steaming mugs down, and then sits down herself.

"So. It goes without saying that I'm sorry, Nicole."

Nicole just nods. Fiddles with the handle of the mug.

"I'm sorry I shouted. But I'm not sorry for how I felt."

It was Waverly's turn to nod. "I know. I'm so sorry, Nicole. I'm glad that you worry about me."

"Are you?" Nicole shot back, a flash in her eyes.

Waverly thought hard. Now was the time to be honest.

"Mostly. But not always. You're right. Sometimes it feels...a little suffocating. Wynonna and I had been talking about it, and I think that was why I reacted like I did."

Nicole laughed bitterly, shook her head. "Right. _You're_ suffocated. Waverly, I love you. But you make me feel so small sometimes."

Waverly had heard Nicole say I love you a hundred times. She'd say it first thing in the morning, and last thing at night, and always it was said in a voice of warmth and wonder.

Now, it sounded hurt, angry, and defeated.

"I...I do?"

"You do. You're my whole world, Waverly. But I'm only part of yours. You've got your sister, your mission, the whole Earp thing. I'm just..." she broke off.

Waverly stared at her in shock. "You're not 'just' anything, Nicole." She couldn't help but reach out a hand towards Nicole's, resting on the table by her coffee.

"Don't - don't touch me! That's not _fair_ , Waverly." Nicole's head tilted to one side, and Waverly could see tears form, before Nicole swiped them angrily away. She went on, in a broken voice.

"You know what your touch does to me. And we need to talk about this. Really talk."

So they talk. They talk about what happened, what it meant. Waverly was honest about feeling insecure, junior in the relationship, about how she was afraid of letting Nicole down. How Nicole's concern could feel a lot like not being trusted.

Nicole found it easy to explain her fear of losing Waverly, and why that made her so protective. But took longer to admit that sometimes she felt a poor second place to everything else in Waverly's life, and that when she was left out it made her feel useless and stupid.

At some stage they had moved through to the couch, still not touching, but sitting closer, both turned in their seats to face each other.

Nicole rested the side of her head on the back of the couch, and for the first time that morning, held Waverly's eyes.

Waverly felt like her heart was breaking. She'd never seen Nicole look so sad or tired. She felt tired herself, exhausted from the late night, the hangover, and from the painful emotions of their confessions. Their admissions had petered out, and part of Waverly wanted to stop. But her concern for her girlfriend won over against all of that.

"That's not all, is it, Nicole."

Nicole slowly shook her head, just once.

Waverly hesitated. Felt their future hanging on this moment. "Tell me" she whispered.

Nicole looked at her, as seconds stretched, and Waverly watched emotions chase across her face, finally seeing a decision settle.

"The way you spoke to me. Before you were drunk, even."

Waverly waited.

"You don't even love me."

Waverly felt her stomach drop for the second time that morning, shaking her head as she saw Nicole finally give in to tears. Shifted up onto a knee, and hovered close to Nicole, not wanting to touch her against her will, but aching, aching to show her how wrong she was. Nicole gave her one agonised look through her tears, and then nodded, and Waverly didn't hesitate any longer but wrapped her arms around the shaking form of her girlfriend, and pulled, and Nicole leaned into her, and Waverly felt them overbalance, and allowed them to fall back on the sofa, and wrapped her arms around Nicole as tight as she could, and whispered "I love you, I love you, I _love_ you" as Nicole released great shuddering sobs into Waverly's chest.

Finally the crying died down, and Nicole just let herself be held, allowed herself the comfort of Waverly's embrace, and just concentrated on getting her breath back to normal. Waverly got up, fetched tissues, and they both wiped their eyes and noses, then Waverly pulled them back into the hug, both lying the full length of the sofa in each other's arms.

Waverley pulled back a little so she could see Nicole's face. Her eyes were still red rimmed, her deep brown eyes looking back at her with love again, but still with some residual hurt and doubt. So Waverly thought for a second, and then reached up and gently stroked her hair as she started to talk.

"Do you remember when we first kissed?"

Nicole doesn't respond, but Waverly doesn't need her to. Pressed so close like this she can read Nicole's reply in the flicker of an eye, a tiny instinctive shift of her body.

"I'd never felt anything even remotely like that before in my life, Nicole. I think I already loved you by then, but that kiss made my mind up. I felt like you'd woken me up, like a princess in a story book.

And then, what was it, a couple of weeks later and you're taking a bullet for me? Did you hear me telling Wynonna I loved you?"

Nicole shook her head; she hadn't.

"Well, I meant it. My sister doesn't even know we're a thing, and we barely _are_ a thing, and I'm confessing my love and making her hand over Peacemaker for you.

And then you stick with me through all the Mictian stuff. Do you remember - do you remember that night?"

Nicole did. It was the first time they'd said I love you to each other. She didn't even need to nod, Waverly could see the memory in her eyes.

"And then you remember of course...I was so _cross_. So angry that this person who had swooped in and taken my heart completely could also hurt me so bad."

Nicole broke eye contact for the first time, looked down. Waverly reached pulled her hand down and softly lifted her chin.

"Hey, hey, that's a long time ago, love. It's ok. I'm just saying. It hurt so much because I loved you.

And then, do you remember." Waverly breaks the quiet mood by actually laughing, and then going on in a dry, almost sing-song voice.

"Do you remember when you had the widow's bite, and how I made a blind deal with a witch for your life, betraying my sister in the process, and then found out the only way to get you back was to give our greatest enemy their greatest weapon, and risk the whole of Purgatory, maybe even the whole of the world?" She laughed again, still shocked by the breathtaking idiocy of the move; and by the knowledge that she'd do it all exactly the same again.

Nicole nodded now. Started to look a little like she believed. Waverly fell back to the softer voice she'd been using.

"And do you remember, in that alternate world? I fell in love with you in a _day_ , Nicole."

Nicole actually smiled, maybe remembering the joy and relief of their second first kiss, like Waverly was. Waverly felt tears of relief rise. "Do you remember my birthday? Christmas? That morning last week?"

Nicole nodded again, and the pain had gone from her eyes completely, and the weight started to lift from them, and both felt like they could start to breathe again.

"I love you, Nicole. I am in love with you. And I always will be."

Nicole bit her lip, eyes shining, and then for the first time that morning, leant forward and pressed her lips to Waverly's.

And it was so, so sweet. Both of them could barely believe the sensation of lips touching lips, of kissing each other so soft and so needfully, of how it felt when finally Waverly opened her mouth and her tongue met Nicole's.

And they wrapped their bodies even tighter together, and their hands moved over each other, soothing and caressing and reminding each other that this was real, that they were together, and meant to be.

Waverly and Nicole had burned together in bed before, but this time was different. It was about reassurance, and tenderness; they never moved from face to face, barely stopped kissing, hadn't even stopped to take any clothes off when Waverly took Nicole's hand and guided it down her pyjama pants, and whispered _I love you, I love you, I love you_ , as a mantra while Nicole brought her to a quick and shattering climax.

And then clothes finally were too much, and Waverly lost hers, then slowly stripped Nicole of hers, kissing the skin revealed, kissing down her body, trying to put as much tenderness and love into each kiss and touch as she could; until she was between Nicole's legs, and tasting her arousal, her tongue exploring carefully and lovingly until she felt Nicole's need rise and she focussed on her clit, closing her eyes and just revelling in the intimacy and closeness of the act, coming again herself when she felt Nicole gasp and stiffen and then relax.

She crawled back up Nicole and then for a long time they just lay there, holding each other until they started to feel the chill on their naked bodies, and moved to their bed. Waverly knew that Nicole was off work that day, but realised that she herself was supposed to go in. She didn't care, taking the time to turn her phone off as they went through, and allowed Nicole to wrap her safe and secure again in her arms, and then their foreheads touched, and they breathed each other's air, and as Waverly felt sleep pull her again, she thought _today, this, here, just here is where I need to be_. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And...breathe.
> 
> This was one half really hard to write, but one half wrote itself. Neither of their characters is perfect, and it's easy to see how their particular issues and insecurities might push the other one's buttons. I know EA gets a lot of stick for putting them through an arguably unrealistic set of crap in season 2, but honestly? I think a relationship with that much love and passion in it not boiling over from time to time really would be unrealistic.
> 
> The next and final chapter might be a little while yet. I know where I want to go and roughly how I'm going to get there, but whereas I normally have the next chapter pretty much written in my head before starting to type it out, I barely have a scene down yet. Besides, both I, and I'm sure my Nicole and Waverly incarnations are rather tired out by all that emotion, and could do with a little rest ;)


	4. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly and Nicole work through some stuff. (In a NOT safe for work fashion.) 
> 
> And Wynonna has a very bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for those sticking with this one. I realise it's a heavy heavy bastard :( Thank you for everyone who leaves kudos, and biiig thank you for those leaving comments. It all makes my ego very happy :)

For a month they practically hibernate. They get up and go to work, and then come back home again, and hardly leave the house at all. They don't leave each other's side.

They had both understood some time ago, and made their peace as far as it were possible, with the fact that living in Purgatory meant that one day one of them might be taken. That their happiness might be shattered this way.

Neither had even begun to consider that it could simply be their own demons that were enough to threaten it. It had been a nasty shock to both of them, and without needing to discuss it explicitly, both they themselves and their friends and family understood that their focus needed to be put back on their relationship and on each other.

 

* * *

 

They talk and talk. They have lots of difficult, but necessary conversations; sometimes accompanied by tears, sometimes laughter too. They spend most evenings wrapped up with each other on the couch. Nominally Nicole would be watching TV, and Waverly reading. But Nicole, sat behind Waverly with her arms wrapped around her, would often just close her eyes and just breath in the feeling of her girl, in her arms, where she was supposed to be. Waverly would let her book fall forwards, and her head fall back, against Nicole's shoulder, feel her press a kiss to her temple.

They make love a lot; nearly every day. It was a way of healing for both of them, a way of reconnecting and wordlessly demonstrating how strong the love that still flowed between them was.

And they found, unexpectedly, that it was also a way they could work through some of their issues. Put into practice all that they had been talking about.

So, for instance, as Nicole took the lead in bed at first, Waverly let her; understanding that her lover's instinctive reaction to fear or danger was to want to be in control, and take responsibility for both of them. Then, as days passed they started to switch things up more. Waverly understood each time Nicole lay back, and looked up at her, and let Waverly slowly run her hands over her body, let her take her time, let her choose their pleasure, she understood it as Nicole vesting trust in her. At first there was a hint of something hesitant in Nicole's eyes still, but Waverly saw it, and was careful, and gentle, and slowly, slowly, Nicole started to feel safe again. Until it was just love and need that burned in Nicole's eyes, and Waverly was happy, more than happy to meet every desire. With each time, carefully, slowly, they let each other's bodies act out the words they'd somehow forgotten to say those previous months. _I trust you, Waverly. You can let your guard down, Nicole, I've got you. I love you._

They also found the toys that Nicole had bought Waverly for her birthday part of the puzzle. Not only did they find it providing some much needed lighter fun; both laughing at the physical and mental gymnastics it took to get Nicole into the harness and behind the strap-on, it also provided a further exercise in trust.

Nicole had always held back a little when using it before, scared that because she couldn't feel things the same that she might hurt Waverly. That protective instinct again.

But over those weeks Waverly assured Nicole that she was completely capable of telling Nicole if it got too much. That Nicole didn't have to take the weight of responsibility for both of their safety and happiness, in bed as well as in the rest of their life. That she could and should trust that Waverly had her own voice in this too, and that she could and would use it. Carefully, and only after they were nearly completely healed, she gently pointed out that she also wasn't delicate, and that Nicole wouldn't break her.

Until one day, late one night as they were using it, Nicole on top, their eyes locked, and their bodies rocking slowly back and forth, there was finally enough trust in place between them such that when Waverly's eyes changed, and she clutched a little tighter, and whispered  _please Nicole, I want you to...I want you to fuck me, just fuck me_ , Nicole finally saw what Waverly wanted, and trusted and believed her: and let herself go.

She let her instincts take over, and her movements became stronger, more deliberate, and felt Waverly's body under her ripple and respond in kind, until she felt like every ounce of love she had was being channelled through the insistent movements of her body on and into Waverly; and Waverly shut her eyes and furrowed her brow and just concentrated on the glorious sensations running round and over and inside her body, and as Nicole heard her moans rose higher and higher, she almost left her conscious mind as she just held Waverly, and kissed her, and thrust into her, hard and fast and deep.

It was a transcendent experience for both of them. Nicole actually came first; and with a surge of love for seeing her girlfriend's joyous and unfettered release, and feeling the final spasmodic jerks of Nicole's hips driving the toy deep inside her, Waverly reacted with a whole-body shuddering orgasm, seeing lights behind her eyes and holding on to Nicole so tight, not realising until they find the marks much later, after they'd come down from the incredible high, how deep she'd dug her fingernails into Nicole's back.

It was everything they needed. And combined with the talking, the evenings on the couch, and both trying harder than ever before to be open and honest with each other, they got back on track. Their love stronger for knowing it could be tested, and finding that it was tough enough to survive.

 

* * *

 

Once a month a small parcel would arrive at the Black Badge offices. In it would be a memory stick, and sometimes a scrap of paper with just a couple of kisses.

Wynonna would bring it round to her sister's house in the evening, and Waverly would receive her with an excited and tender hug.

Nicole would set out her laptop on the coffee table in front of the sofa, and as the sisters sat close to each other, too nervous to look themselves, she'd open the documents contained one by one.

There would be photos of Alice sleeping, or feeding, or lying under a mobile and batting at the brightly coloured plastic toys that dangled over her. There would be a long letter from Gus, not mentioning where they were in case the parcel was intercepted, but providing all the assurance they needed that she was safe, and being looked after.

There would usually be at least one video, and this would be when Wynonna would join her sister in laughter or tears as over the months they watched her first smiles, her turning herself over for the first time, her first crawl. Nicole would step up and away to give them their space, heart breaking for the two of them as they sat close together, leaning forward towards the images flickering on the laptop in desperate but thwarted love, both smiles and tears on their faces.

Those evenings Wynonna would stay with them, and the three would talk late into the night about how beautifully Alice was growing up, how well they themselves were doing on finishing the curse, and how soon they'd see her. Nicole and Waverly talking over each other in positive tones how the next breakthrough must be just around the corner; as much to kid themselves as Wynonna.

Wynonna would eventually get quieter and quieter until there were no words left. Waverly would give her one final hug, and then leave her to her thoughts. Nicole would fetch her a large glass of water and set it down in front of Wynonna, usually next to a final slug of whiskey. She'd just squeeze Wynonna's shoulder as she herself headed off to bed, to hold Waverly close.

Often Nicole couldn't sleep those nights, her thoughts churning through her own memories of lost and separated families. Eventually she'd get up, and tread carefully into the lounge, and see Wynonna passed out asleep on the couch. Helpless, she'd fetch her an extra blanket, and cover her carefully with it as if this could keep everything else as well as the cold at bay.

Then she would return to her own bed, and with prayers of hope, and thanks for all that she did have, wrap herself around Waverly's warm sleeping form, and she'd close her eyes; and eventually, she'd sleep.

 

* * *

 

One day a little more than a month after their fight, Nicole and Waverly found themselves at lunch together at the station. It was a rarity these days, with neither the erratic demands of demon hunting, nor Nicole's increasing responsibilities under Nedley allowing them to be too choosey with their break times.

They never really should've been able to co-ordinate their time back in the day either; and so they sat and joked and teased each other about the ludicrous measures both used to take before they were together to ensure they just happened to take their lunches at the same time.

Waverly sat opposite Nicole in her old seat, smiling affectionately both at her lover, here and present and warm and in love, and at the worn but happy old memories.

Nicole looked up, smiled a little tightly, and cleared her throat. "Hey, so you know what, I was doing some figuring the other day."

Waverly smiled, she could tell Nicole was trying to keep her voice light and easy, but could hear there was some greater import there. She was pretty sure she could guess why.

"Oh yeah, what about?"

"Ah, well. I was just thinking...do you know what next Tuesday will be?"

_A year since I looked up to see you looking back at me in Shorty's, and changed my life forever._

"No, sweetie, what's that?" Waverly was grinning, and Nicole looked at her a little deflated, knowing her girlfriend had already got there.

"One year since we met, Waves."

Waverly's smile softened. "I know, Nicole. Our anniversary."

Nicole laughed. "Our anniversary? You're dating it from then?"

"You're _not_?" Waverly reached over and touched Nicole's hand. "You know you completely threw me for a loop that day, don't you?"

Nicole laughed, looked down as she raised an eyebrow at herself. "God, I was so damn cocky. I can't believe it now. You just..." she trailed off, looked a little lost for words. "I don't know Wave. I know it sounds like a lot. But I think I knew, straight away."

Waverly entwined their hands, and let herself bask in the feeling of closeness they'd re-established. Said quietly "I know, Nicole. Me too. I think from the moment you took my hand." They sat for a second, looking into each other's eyes as their fingers squeezed and Waverly moved her thumb gently across Nicole's. She laughed. "And then of course, you're so smooth that within one minute of meeting me you're already getting me undressed."

"Hey! It's not my fault if Shorty's employed wait staff who can't handle a beer tap!"

They both laughed, sat back from the emotion that neither could really indulge in on a work day.

"So, you wouldn't think it was weird if I asked if you wanted to do something? Dinner?"

"Dinner would be lovely, Nicole." Waverly's heart beat hard, as an idea she'd been kicking around for a while now fell into place. _One week, then. I wonder if she'll guess?_

 

* * *

 

Waverly had got her choice of lunch hour because Black Badge was _quiet_. So quiet that when she returned to their offices she found the desks pushed back and her sister and Jeremy involved in some convoluted game involving throwing balls of paper into the air for the other to try to hit with elastic band shot.

"Busy, guys?" She hopped up onto a table, angled her phone away from the others, and started looking.

Wynonna shrugged. "You got a lot in your in-tray right now? Right, Jeremy, hit me. I'm five for four and this one's for the All Black Badge Boredom Ball Championship."

Jeremy launched a balled up paper across the room, Wynonna followed its path with elastic band pulled off her thumb like a trigger, and all eyes followed as she released it with a snap. It sailed past the paper ball as the door opened again. And hit Dolls square in the face.

"What the...?! What are you, _twelve_?" he shouted, a real anger in his voice.

"Hey, alright. I'm sorry! We're just goofing around, Dolls, take that stick out of your butt for once wouldn't ya?" Wynonna caught Jeremy's eye, and neither could stop themselves giggling.

"It's not funny! This is serious! Can you not for once in your goddamned life take things _seriously?!"_

Wynonna's expressive face went from relaxed rebellion to a cautious question in an instant.

"I do take this seriously, Dolls." Wynonna said, in a quieter but unapologetic voice. "But I'm the crazy chick with a gun, remember? It's these two brains that should be working to get me something to do. But there's nothing. There is _literally_ nothing."

Dolls stood, breathing a little heavily, and glaring at Wynonna. Whose eyes narrowed.

"Dolls. Do you want to tell us what's going on?"

A beat, then he looked away. "They're shutting us down again."

" _What?!_ " 

"Why?"

"When?"

Dolls addressed each in turn, trying but failing to keep his voice below a frustrated yell.

"They're shutting us down, Earp. _Because_ , Jeremy, whilst I could get us a short term extension on the promise of ending the curse, I don't have enough progress to show them to justify keeping four people on the payroll to _play with elastic bands!_  Waverly? With immediate effect. I'm sorry, but you're done."

"But we're so close!" Waverly blurted out. "Ten to go! Nine, if you don't count..." she exchanged a look with Wynonna. "Ten, that's nothing!"

Dolls raised his arms wide. "Where are we going to find them? Are you working on any hot leads?"

Waverly hadn't even been pretending to work. She shook her head, chastened.

"Okay, then..." Jeremy said, nervously trying to fill the tense silence that had descended.

Wynonna's voice started, quiet, eerily calm. "So that's just fan-fuckting-tastic. You're just going to give up. You're going to up and go." 

Dolls gave her a pained look. "I've told them I need a month's notice to wrap up here and to put my own affairs in order. You too Jeremy, if you want it. But..." he sighs, looks Wynonna straight in the eye. "We don't belong to ourselves Earp, you know that. They own us."

Wynonna stood, walked straight up to Dolls. Rage, abandonment, and hopelessness.

Rage won.

"I've said it before. And I'll say it again.  _Pussy_."

Waverly hopped down from her desk, calling after her sister and trying to follow her out, but Dolls stepped in her way. 

"Give her a minute, Waverly. I think anyone she talks to now is not going to get a whole lot of sense. You'll talk to her later, right?"

Waverly hesitated, then nodded. "You're right. Anyway, I've kinda got an...errand to run."

Dolls looked out the door, at nothing. Said under his breath, "I'd never give up on you, Earp."

 

* * *

 

The station radio crackled into life, and then the dispatcher called across the office. "Gotta a 415E down at Shorty's, Officer needs assistance."

Nicole's ears pricked up, and found herself standing already, shucking on her coat and heading out the door. "Got it. Will radio with update."

_415E._

415 meant firearms, and under the influence. 

E meant Earp, and it wasn't the first call sign she'd heard with this appended. It had been a long time before anyone at the station had let her in on the joke, but she had finally worked it out. She shook her head as she left the station; one half angry at her colleagues' black humour, but one half grateful.

 

* * *

 

The late afternoon crowd at Shorty's could take care of themselves. Too early for regular folk to have left work for their first beer, too late for even the longest lunchers to stay. The only folk drinking at this time were drinking because drinking is what they did.

Old boys nursing rye whiskey for hours at a time, testing themselves with how long they could hold out against the next beat in their day. Miserly with dolling themselves out the pleasure of asking for another drink, and the brief human contact with the girl behind the bar that that meant.

Young guys chugging beer, playing pool, laughing and joking. Thinner than they should be, bravado and testosterone for now compensating for that to make them look lean and cool, not old and frail like the men they'd turn into. The money they didn't have didn't stretch far enough for both food and beer, and the beer won every time.

And always one or two characters locked in their own temporary hell. One guy in a suit, a briefcase next to him, and a cloud of sadness. What was this, end of a career, end of a marriage? Shorty's didn't discriminate.

And one wild woman, bleaker and more desperate than them all.

 

* * *

 

As Nicole strode up to Shorty's she saw Bailey stood outside his cruiser double parked out front of Shorty's. He looked pissed off, and called out to her before she was even close. "Will you get your damned sister-in-law in order?!"

Nicole kept her face straight, but smiled inwardly at the reference. "What's happening?"

"She's inside, waving that relic of a gun around. She said if I stayed she'd start shooting, so." He shrugged. "I think it's alright, Haught. But she's drunk, even for an Earp."

Nicole nodded, squared her shoulders, pushed open the door, and walked in.

Wynonna was holding court in the middle of the floor, swaying a little on the spot, and waving Peacemaker about indiscriminately. The rest of the inhabitants of the bar were sat motionless in each of their seats, watching her in various degrees of inebriated concern, fear or amusement.

"So, this _gun_ , you see, this is what I can contribute. And what does the gun to? Oh, whoopsie!" She is close to the guy in the suit, and allows the gun to swerve around in an arc until it is pointing at him. She is not seriously aiming it, but the direction is clearly not an accident. The man sits back, terrified, hands up. "I didn't do anything, I swear. Please. _Please_. I'm having a really bad day."

" _You're_ having a bad day?!" Wynonna pull the gun up and away, holds it in front of her face, shakes it, points it briefly back at the guy again, then holds it up and scrutinises the barrel. Which stays gunmetal and cold. "No? No? Ok then." She starts to turn, starts to let the gun find the next person to test.

Nicole's had enough.

" _Wynonna_ Earp, you put that gun down this _second_. Don't you make me call your sister."

Wynonna whirls, and Nicole sees her face. A wide, manic grin, layered on top of so, so much pain. "Haught-stuff! Have you heard the great news? I'm not burdened by any help any more! Me and Waves, it'll be just like the good old days! Just like when we were kids, and no-one gave two _fucks_ , and they were coming for us, and there was nobody to help us!"

Her voice was rising and rising. Nicole took a couple of short steps towards her, holding her hands up placatingly. "Ok, ok, I heard. But you guys aren't on your own any more, Wynonna. You've got me at least. And I'm sorry, but you can't just go waving Peacemaker at citizens minding their own business. I don't think that's the best way of...you know." Nicole was very aware that every eye in the bar would be on them. It wasn't a good idea to be discussing what was really going on.

Wynonna's shoulder's slumped, her face fell, let her gun arm fall to her side. "You got any other bright ideas?"

Nicole took a step closer, only a foot away now. Tried to put on a soothing voice. "We'll think of something. Waves'll think of something."

"Waverly." Wynonna's voice broke. "I've let her down. I'm letting Alice down. _Alice._ " She looked up at Nicole, who actually winced when she was hit with the full force of pain and defeat on her face.

"I can't just keep..."

Wynonna blinked back tears, and shook her head. And then held up the gun and looked at it. And then, just for a second, just for a split second, Nicole saw Wynonna's hand and arm start to move. Nicole's heart stopped dead as she saw the gun waver, and then move, and then it was pointing up and back at Wynonna herself.

" _Whoa_ whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second." Nicole stepped forward and closed the gap to Wynonna. She grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the gun, and forced it to point away from them, and down, whilst with the other arm she gathered Wynonna in, holding her in an awkward, half hug, half restraint. Completely against all protocol, completely against all her training; and completely the right thing to do.

"Let's just have a little think about this first, huh, Wynonna. Get you out for some fresh air, huh? Ok? Ok."

She felt Wynonna nod into her shoulder, and felt her tense body loosen a little as she surrendered control to Nicole, who began to steer them out of the door. She fixed eyes with a guy at the table by the door, and mouthed at him 'lock the door', saw grateful eyes and a nod.

Outside, she sat Wynonna down on the bench, sat next to her, and looked warningly up at Bailey. _Don't interrupt me, I'm Earp-whispering_. He got it, took a step back and out of their eye-line.

"Can I have Peacemaker for a second, please, Wy?"

Wynonna looked like she'd forgotten what was going on or why she was there. Looked surprised. "I guess. Here."

Nicole took the gun, put it the other side of her on the bench, and released a breath. "Thank you." She went on in an even, friendly tone. Trying not to spook Wynonna, and trying to combine her quiet authority when in uniform with the real worry and affection she felt for her girlfriend's sister. "Now, I've got to take you across to the cop-shop for a bit, Wynonna, you know that? So Bailey here," she looked up at him; "he's going to take the gun just for safekeeping, and I'm gonna take his keys, and take you back there."

"Ok. Cool. Whatever." The energy that came with the rage had drained, and Wynonna just stared down at her hands in her lap. Eyes now just heavy with sadness.

"And Bailey is going to talk to those good folk inside, and explain that you didn't mean anything, and that you've just had a bad day, and that I'm sure everyone would be happy not to press charges." Bailey looked skeptically at Nicole, who looked pleadingly up at him. And said under her breath, for Bailey to hear more than Wynonna. "And help me keep both my girlfriend and my job?"

He rolled his eyes, but then nodded. Mouthed, 'you owe me big-time'.

Nicole stood up and in front of Wynonna, and held her hands out, and pulled her up to her feet. They look at each other for a long moment, and then Nicole turns, and puts an arm around her, and slowly walks her over to the police cruiser. Whispering gently, "Wynonna Earp, I am arresting you for dangerous use of a firearm under the influence of alcohol, you don't have to say anything..."

 

* * *

 

They all dealt with the aftermath, together. Like they always did.

Nicole had called Waverly, who understood that Wynonna needed her small-town charm more than she needed her company. She headed over to Shorty's, to placate and to charm and to flatter the boys in the bar that real men, _Purgatory_ men, were too tough to let a little gun-waving from a typsy woman upset them. Dolls talked to Nedley, who suddenly decided that he had to respond personally to a nuisance call miles out of town, so that he wasn't in the station when they brought Wynonna in to see anything that might need his intervention. Bailey, never the best at paperwork, filed a plausably bland report on the incident, and Nicole, not able to use quality standards to get out of reporting in more detail, at least could honestly write that there were unique factors involved and so there was no general or continued danger to the public to justify charges.

It all worked. Waverly was allowed to take a sobering and chastened Wynonna home with them that night, and took her into their bed, Nicole taking the sofa for the night.

 

* * *

 

Nicole woke, confused for a second as to where she was and why there was someone shaking her shoulder. She squinted up through the dark at the pale face of Wynonna peering down at her, then at her watch. 4am. She sat up, yawning.

"Everything ok, Wy?"

Wynonna nodded, took a seat on the coffee table facing Nicole.

"I was out by 10, so I'm wide awake now. And I'm sorry for waking you, but I just needed to talk to you for a second. Without..."

Nicole nodded, getting it.

"Ok." Wynonna took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Nicole. I'm really sorry. I know that could've got you in a lot of trouble at your job. And I know what your job means to you. So, well, I guess I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for dealing with all that."

Nicole tilted her head, frowned. "Of course, Wynonna." She paused, seeing even in the silvery half-light Wynonna's face twisted with shame. "You know it wasn't just for Waverly, don't you?"

Wynonna looked into her eyes, quickly, then away. Shook her head a little, disbelieving.

"Do you remember what you did, Wynonna?"

A nod.

"You really scared me."

Wynonna pressed her lips into a tense line. "Have you told Waves?"

"No. But we don't keep secrets from each other any more, so I would really appreciate it if you did. I think you should, anyway. I think you should at least talk to her about how you're feeling...you don't feel like that normally, do you Wy?" Nicole's voice was shaking a little, not really knowing if she wanted to know the answer.

Wynonna sat up, and looked a bit more positive. "No. I didn't even then, honestly Haught. It's not me. And it's not the Earp way, is it? We go out all guns blazing." She properly grinned, the real wicked Wynonna back for a second. Nicole felt like a weight she didn't even know was on her lifted, and just smiled back at Wynonna.

"Good. I'm glad. Cos I'm sure your sister would find a way to bring you back, and then kill you stone dead again."

"Yeah, don't I just know it!"

They both laughed a little under their breaths, feeling relief as the heavy topic gave way to their more usual banter. Then the giggles subsided, and they just sat for a while. Wynonna looking wryly at Nicole, and Nicole held her eye with understanding. Just waiting. She knows the Earps.

"I was just so tired. We've got to _do_ something, Haught. Anything. I've gotta break this fucking curse."

Nicole hesitated. "Anything?"

Wynonna just breathed out. "Yeah. Anything. I just don't know what." A beat. "Here, look, while I'm awake why don't you go back to bed and give that sister of mine a hug? I'm sure she could use one. I'm good here."

Nicole looked at her seriously. "You sure?"

"Sure thing. But just hugging, please. Don't wake the neighbours."

Nicole laughed again, shook her head. "I'm glad you're back, Wynonna." Stood, looked down at her, saw that both meanings registered. "Night then."

"Night, Haught-stuff."

 

* * *

 

Nicole tried not to disturb Waverly as she crawled into bed, but felt her stir anyway, and as Nicole settled in and on her back, Waverly came across and nestled into her side; arms wrapping around each other and Waverly laying her head down on Nicole's shoulder, fitting together like that was what they were built to do.

Sleepy, hardly awake, and seconds from dropping off again, Waverly murmured. "She ok?"

Nicole squeezed her, kissed her head. "Think so, yeah. I love you, Waverly."

"Love you too."

As Waverly's breaths came evenly again, Nicole felt herself starting to drift off to sleep. The shadow of an idea, or maybe the start of a dream, starting to take form.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was going to finish this fic off with chapter 4. But actually, I've got loads of plot left to go, which means god only knows how much more writing before I can post to the end. And I've got this bit down, and it's a suitable beat to end a chapter on, and I need to get it out of my head, and so. Here y'are.
> 
> Hope you didn't find all that last stuff too out of character. It is, really, but can you imagine the state Wynonna must be in? To shoot two members of your family and then have to give your daughter up for safe-keeping? Would throw the best of us a little off balance, I reckon.
> 
> Plus, gives me an excuse for some quality Nicole/Wynonna time, and I do love me some Nicole/Wynonna brotp :)


	5. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big City, Big Smut, Big Fluff, and a Bloody Big Plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this is again turning into an unexpected monster of a story, and this update has ballooned into a mammoth 8k chapter. So I am now adding yet *another* chapter after this one with the conclusion. 
> 
> I'm so sorry y'all. The next one really really should be the last, and I'm guessing will be a lot shorter...although I keep on saying that and keep being wrong.
> 
> (In my defense, I haven't actually changed my outline, and these last three chapters probably do belong as one. But word counts getting silly, and so breaking them up a bit again. Probably for the best, I do seem to have rather gone to town with the ups and downs again...just you wait until the next one...dun dun daaaa!)
> 
> Thank you so much for those sticking with this one, and as always, thank you for lovely kudoseseseses & lovely comments :)

The Tuesday after, one year to the day since they first met, Waverly and Nicole went out to dinner.

They'd booked a table in a restaurant in the big city, and both had got dressed up. Waverly had bought a new dress, short and sleeveless and simple, a dark silver colour that reminded Nicole of moonlight shining off of winter Purgatory snow. Nicole had thought about a dress herself, but in deference to the weather and slightly less willing to suffer for her appearance than her girlfriend, had opted for pants and a top. But it was some top, a shirt in a deep green silken material with a neckline that had drawn a raised and happy eyebrow from Waverly when Nicole had first picked it out in a shop to show her.

Waverly was being more than usually careful with her get-up that night, fussing over make-up and accessories and the exact shoes that would set off the rest of the outfit perfectly. Nicole was used to her taking her time getting ready, and would often stay in their room and watch her, very much enjoying the view as outfits were chosen and modelled and then removed again.

But she had an unusual energy tonight, and it was making both of them a little antsy; and so in the end once she herself was ready thought it was best to simply get out of her way.

"Are you done yet, Waves?" Nicole called from the living room couch. "We've got to get going if we're going to make our reservation."

"Just a minute! Just putting on the finishing touches!"

"You do know I fell for you this time last year when you were wearing a pitcher of beer and not a lot else, don't you Wave?" Nicole shouted, teasing.

There was silence, and after a second she turned around from where she was sitting to see Waverly stand at the entrance to their room. Nicole stood, and swallowed.

"Uh... _wow_."

Waverly had a nervous and happy smile on her face that reminded Nicole of when they were first dating. She made a self-conscious twirl, as Nicole just stared, at the dress, at her hair done up in a concoction of braids, at the simple silver drop earrings and necklace that complemented and set-off the dress. At Waverly's eyes, sparkling brighter than any of the silver she was dressed in.

" _Wow_. You look...uh. Wow." Nicole heard her voice trail off, as Waverly walked up to her, smiling the crinkle-eyed smile that somehow combined sexy and cute and bashful and confident, and Nicole just stood there, not quite believing her good luck. She eventually managed to get some blood to run from her heart where it was hammering and to her brain, and whispered "You look beautiful, Waverly."

Waverly came to a stop in front of Nicole, and bit her lip as she looked over Nicole and took her all in. Seeing as if for the first time the beauty of the face of the woman she loved, looking down at her in something akin to wonder. The deep brown eyes she felt like she could and would look into forever. The soft lips, a hint of colour tonight, just waiting to be kissed. The small scar above her eye that Waverly definitely, definitely dug. The shock of wavy red hair that her hand would so often be found tangled in.

"So do you, Nicole."

They just stared at each other for a minute, both hearts beating hard, and feeling something invisible drawing them in. Until Waverly shook her head decisively, and as if chastising herself, said "Nope. Nope. We've got a plan. Stick to the plan, Waverly."

Nicole laughed.

 

* * *

 

At dinner the conversation ebbed and flowed like a mountain stream. One minute bubbling over, words pouring out of both of them, as they took this moment out of their daily life, away from the worries of Purgatory, and just talked; about each other, their history, where they were, sometimes even allowing themselves to touch on plans and hopes for their future. Sometimes stopping and pooling, as one or the other would get lost just looking at the other, and their eyes would meet, their food forgotten, words gone but the conversation continuing with emotions as eyes met eyes and hands reached for hands.

So it was late, and they were one of the last ones left by the time they were drinking their coffees. Waverly had fallen a little silent, and Nicole thought she was looking nervous again, twisting round in her seat to look at the waiting staff, and the clock on the wall.

"Hey, Waves, are you ok? What is it?"

"Nothing. Nothing Nicole. It's just. We've been talking so much, and it's late now, and we've got the check, and so the waiter will be along in a second. And then we'll have to go..." she trailed off

Nicole frowned. "Um, Waves, that's kinda what happens at the end of a dinner. Is there a problem?"

Waverly looked at her, a note of frustration. "No. No. I just...sort of forgot something."

Nicole didn't know what was going on. But she knew when Waverly was wound up tight, she had ways of calming her down.

The big city anonymity, the night of sitting opposite the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen without being able to properly touch her, and probably in part the bottle of wine they'd shared, emboldened Nicole. She leaned forward a little, took one of Waverly's hands. Then sat back again, still holding on, looking straight into Waverly's eyes, a hint of dark mischief in hers. She slipped a foot out of a shoe, and moved it under the table until it found Waverly's leg. She hooked, and then started to run her foot up and down Waverly's calf, soft, slow, and suggestive.

She felt Waverly's hand tighten in hers, and saw her swallow. She continued the movement as it was for a minute, and then let her foot run up Waverly's leg a little higher.

"Waiter!" she heard Waverly blurt out in a strangled tone. "We're good to pay now? Thanks."

Nicole dropped Waverly's hand, pulled her foot back, and slipped it back into her shoe, grinning wickedly.

 

* * *

 

They'd agreed to treat themselves with a cab back from the Big City that night, so they both could drink. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was torture.

They allowed themselves to hold hands, but this only made it worse. Their hands entwined, one minute holding tight, the next fingers lightly, teasingly, stroking the other's palms and fingers. Both of them thinking hard about all the things that those hands and fingers can _do_.

Nicole looked over at Waverly, who was staring out the window with a look of concentration on her face. She studied her girlfriend, and saw that her breathing was shallow and light. In the dark night with the inside of the car lit only with the intermittent flash of passing street lights she couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a flush on her neck.

Nicole stopped the play of their hands, and, feeling the change, Waverly looked round at her. Nicole squeezed her hand, whispered "Breathe, baby."

Waverly shot her back such a look of frustration and desire that Nicole laughed out loud. Waverly grinned ruefully back. Beckoned Nicole to lean over so she could whisper something in Nicole's ear.

She whispered so quietly Nicole could hardly hear her, despite how close their faces were together. "At risk of paraphrasing myself from one year ago. I'm wet, Nicole."

Nicole sat back in her seat like she'd been shot, eyes wide and sat up ramrod straight and with an involuntary deep gasped breath. This time it was Waverly's turn to laugh, looking indulgently over at Nicole trying to regulate her breathing, and her turn to squeeze Nicole's hand in knowing sympathy. She looked out the window of the car, seeing the familiar outskirts of Purgatory coming towards them, and just smiled and smiled and smiled.

 

* * *

 

Nicole and Waverly had gotten really, really good at sex.

Their first few times had been so alive with the wonder of it; their skin tingling and burning everywhere they touched, both overwhelmed with the sensation of each other. Then as they gained in experience, the newness was replaced by meaning, and skill, as they learned what they liked, as they learned how they fit together, and where to touch, and how; and taking their time, every kiss, every movement of their bodies, stoked each other higher and higher, and meant  _I love you_.

But sometimes. Sometimes, they did their best impression of hormonal lust-drunk teenagers having their very first time.

 

* * *

  

As the cab drove off and Nicole searched in her bag for the keys, Waverly pushed up behind her, lifting her coat and putting both hands on Nicole's ass, and giggling as she squeezed, pressing Nicole forwards into the door.

"Uh...Waves...that's really distracting sweetie..." Nicole fumbled with the keys, got them in the lock at the second attempt, threw the door open, spun them in and around, and then pushed Waverly back into the coats on the back of the door, and, letting the momentum of both their bodies shut the door, pushed herself hard into Waverly, and _kissed_ her.

They were open-mouthed straight away, tongues pressing into each other's mouths, finding and losing again the right angle, teeth clashing for a second until they found the rhythm, as their arms struggled with each other's coats, pulling and pushing them off until they could connect with just the thin fabric of dress and shirt between them. 

Waverly put her arms around Nicole's waist, and then reached one hand down to her ass, and squeezed again. Nicole moaned into her mouth, and then lowered her body a little, and reached down and held onto a leg and pulled it up, holding Waverly tight and steady against her with another arm around her back. Their legs entwined and Nicole pressed herself against Waverly's thigh, and then pulled back and then pressed in again firmer; breaking the kiss to gasp at the sensation, closing her eyes and putting her head over Waverly's shoulder, head butting into the door with the desperate movements of their bodies against each other, and then realising where she was and turning her face to kiss and suck on Waverly's neck, drawing a bruise to the skin and a low moan from Waverly's lips.

Nicole put Waverly's leg back down for a second, ran both hands up and under the skirt of Waverly's dress, and unceremoniously, awkwardly, pulled and pushed both tights and underwear down to the floor, helping Waverly take one foot out completely but losing patience and coming back up before they'd freed the other, and this time with one hand rucking up the side of Waverly's dress and settling on a now bare ass, pushed her thigh in between Waverly's legs again.

"Oh _fuuuck_ , Nicole." Waverly gasped out, sounding like she was almost there already. She pushed back on her lover, who looked momentarily dazed by the break in bodily contact, until Waverly's hands found the bottom of her shirt, and simultaneously walked them over to the couch whilst yanking Nicole's top off. When they got there and Nicole's legs hit the couch Waverly kept pushing and Nicole fell back, laughing, as Waverly determinedly pushed her down, bringing a leg over to straddle Nicole's waist, reaching back and finally pulling off the tights from her one foot and throwing them behind them.

She beamed down at Nicole for half a second in triumph, and then leaned down and kissed her, and then deliberately drew back a little so that Nicole would chase her lips up, giggling into the kiss with excitement and satisfaction as Nicole did exactly that, allowing Waverly to reach around and under the gap left between her back and the couch, fumbling with the clasp of Nicole's bra, struggling at first and so breaking the kiss to concentrate on the job, muttering "Off, off, off" to herself as she did so, much to Nicole's amusement.

Finally she managed it, and then she sat back up, and looked down again at Nicole, breath coming in deep and shaky breaths as Nicole ran her hands up the side of Waverly's bare legs, up under the skirt of her dress to her hips, and started to pull Waverly into a rocking motion. Waverly leaned forward a little, closing her eyes a second and giving into the feeling, grinding herself down hard against Nicole's lap, and feeling Nicole's hips now chase her back up as she eased the pressure, watching Nicole's eyes fall shut and mouth fall open and her face a picture of bliss.

Still rocking back and forth, she placed one hand on Nicole's waist to steady herself, and with the other she reached up and caressed Nicole's breasts. Too turned on to be soft, she grasped and kneaded, and Nicole drew in her breath sharply with an almost wince as she pinched too hard on an erect nipple. "Sorry, sorry, here..." she leant down and replaced her hand with her mouth, and then as she started to lick soothing circles around the edge of the nipple, and then gently suck the whole of the stiffened point into her mouth, she heard Nicole's voice low and gutteral and so, so sexy, "Fuck, oh Jesus, _Waverly..._ " and she adjusted her posture lower down Nicole's body to make the angle easier, and then brought a hand up to Nicole's other breast, and kissed, and sucked and played, until she could hear Nicole's gasps turn to whimpers, and feel Nicole's fingers twitching on her shoulders, and then heard a weak voice, "Wave, Wave, I think I'm gonna..."

Waverly stopped for a second, looked up and met Nicole's eyes, and moved her hand down to Nicole's zipper, and asked the question with a raised eyebrow, and Nicole nodded desperately, and, laughing at the expression of absolute desperate need on Nicole's face, Waverly pulled the zipper down, and put her mouth back to Nicole's breast, and slid a hand down inside Nicole's underwear, and then felt her own hips jerk and she had to stop what she was doing with her mouth for a second as she just closed her eyes and she breathed out "oh my..."

Nicole was so wet, Waverly almost couldn't find her way, slipping and sliding and forgetting everything she had learned for a second as her hand just fumbled through the wet heat; but then managed to bring herself back to herself, and bring her hand under control, and she found where she was looking for, and then finally came away from Nicole's breasts, and lay on her fully, and kissed her, and her fingers worked at Nicole's centre, and their bodies pushed together, malcoordinated and desperate for a second, and then it was like magnets coming together, they almost clicked into position, and the muscle memory came back, and they started moving together, and Waverly's hand drove Nicole higher and higher, and Nicole reached up and under Waverly's skirt and between her legs, and found her too, and then it was seconds, just a few long seconds of absolute bliss and wonder and _need_ and then they were gasping, cresting, topping, falling, coming apart together like it was the first and last time they ever would.

 

* * *

 

They both cried.

It wasn't completely unheard of for one or other of them to be moved to tears after sex, sometimes the emotion of the act getting the better of them. But this was the first time they can remember both of them doing it. They laughed at it too, smiling through what they both knew were happy tears, adjusting their positions on the couch to a more comfortable embrace, as they let their emotions just run out and into each other, kissing and wiping each other's tears away.

After a long, long moment of peace, Waverly broke the silence, murmuring into the top of Nicole's head where she held it against her chest.

"Damn it. This wasn't the plan."

Nicole giggled, a little love-drunk still. "Nuh? You didn't spend all night mentally undressing me then?"

Waverly smiled, unseen. Kissed Nicole's head. "Guilty as charged, Officer."

The silence lay over them again, warm and comfortable like a blanket. But it now had a question hanging in it.

Nicole was so content, and peaceful, laying half on, half around Waverly, and felt like she never wanted to move. But Waverly's words registered with something she'd said earlier on, and Nicole's curiosity got the better of her. She sat up.

"Waves?"

"Mm?"

"What was the plan?"

Waverly looked up at her, face shining with love. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, Nicole, but would you put your top back on please? I'm not sure this is a half-naked conversation."

Nicole frowned, but hunted around on the floor and found it, and complied. Waverly pulled the dress of her skirt back down to a more decent coverage, and sat up with her legs crossed more demurely at the ankle. They were both still rumpled, and flushed, but almost looked like their date incarnations again.

Waverly got up, walked over to where she'd dropped her purse just by the door, brought it back to the sofa. Sat for a second, with her hand in the purse. Then looked up at Nicole.

Nicole felt the world shift and tilt. 

"I had this whole speech worked out." Waverly whispered. Looking into Nicole's eyes with love, and amusement, and affection, and more than a hint of nerves. " 'One year ago today'..." Waverly broke off, laughed nervously. Looked at her watch. "I'm late. One year ago yesterday."

Nicole shook her head, hardly believing what was happening. Dropped her voice to a whisper too. "Waverly?"

Who looked up again. Took a deep, deep breath, and took her hand out of her purse, holding a small box. Opened it, and held the ring out to Nicole.

"Will you marry me?"

Nicole felt tears start again, falling down her cheeks as she surged forward, capturing Waverly in a kiss, and then a hug, and then fell back, laughing and crying and nodding hugely.

"Uh huh. _Yes_. Yes Waverly. I will."

Waverly was laughing herself now, and with shaking hands, took the ring, and put it on Nicole's finger. They both looked down at their joined hands for a second, and then their shining eyes met, and they kissed again. This time soft, and long, and gentle, and full of all the love that they had conjured in the magic of the evening.

 

* * *

 

The next morning at breakfast they couldn't stop smiling at each other.

"I can't _believe_ you, Waverly Earp." Nicole said, buttering her toast and chuckling.

"What?"

"I always thought I'd the one to do that."

Waverly raised her eyebrows smugly. "Well, you snooze you lose."

Nicole laughed again, looked at the ring again. Looked back up to Waverly, and then added seriously.

"I would have, you know."

Waverly tilted her head, seeing there was something behind the words. Asked, in the open way they found they could since they'd worked so hard on their communication. "Why haven't you, then?"

Nicole paused. "Don't take this the wrong way, Waves. But when I promise to be with you for the rest of my life...I want that to mean something."

Waverly looked puzzled, and maybe a little bit hurt. Nicole sighed.

"I didn't want to ask you to marry me because we thought we might not last out a year, and that we may as well. I didn't want to promise to love and honour you for the rest of my life, if I thought the rest of my life might only be until the next time I get a revenant's hockey stick across the head."

Waverly's face crumpled in a wince. "Too soon, Nicole."

"Sorry. Sorry. But do you see my point? When I promise to spend the rest of my life by your side, I want that to mean sixty years, not six, or two, or whatever. I want to think about us growing old together, about getting wrinkles, and grouchy. I want to think about me being the Sheriff one day, and you being _Professor_ Earp someplace. Maybe kids one day, I don't know. I want it to be a promise with a future." Her voice had risen, got a little shaky. She held onto the table in front of her, gripped it hard, and forced herself to breathe. Looked up, a little worried. "Do you get it, at all?"

Waverly was looking back at her through one of her inscrutable facial expressions. "Kinda. But, sweetie, there's the other way of looking at things."

Nicole felt a heavy weight fall in her stomach, as she guessed.

Waverly looked down. "If anything did happen...I'd want to know that we'd done everything we could together, Nicole. I don't want either of us to die wondering."

 

Nicole forgot, sometimes.

Waverly was one of the most positive, sunny, happy people she'd ever met. Everyone loved her, everyone saw the sunshine in her eyes, the kindness she exuded.

Only a very few people knew that she also carried a darkness. Wynonna knew, of course. Maybe Doc too. People who carried their own private torment through life could see it.

Nicole hadn't, not at first. It was a slowly growing appreciation as they got to know each other. As Nicole saw Waverly put through horror after horror, each of which would be too much for most people to bear, and saw her just lean in to it, and just carry on. Like she didn't actually expect any better for herself.

She thinks maybe she didn't fully appreciate Waverly's capacity for living with loss until she stood holding Waverly as the helicopter took Alice away, and felt Waverly's grief, but also her strength. It would've broken most people. Nicole felt like it was nearly breaking her. And it wasn't that Waverly wasn't cut to the core, she was. Nicole just saw that she would just step out, and into and through the pain, unflinching and un-selfpitying and unbelievably, incredibly brave. 

Waverly had lived with darkness, and pain, and loss, all her life. She'd experienced death, seen it, fought it, lost to it. It wasn't theoretical to her. She'd lived it and breathed it.

It seemed to Nicole unbelievably morbid to want to get married so that they could die that way. But she knew that she'd not had the life that Waverly had.

Nicole got up, and walked around the table, and knelt in front of Waverly, who turned in her chair, and let her head tilt forward, her hair falling down and across her face. Nicole sat up on her knees, pushing Waverly's hair behind her ears, and then taking Waverly's hands, letting them rest together in her lap, and sat back down on her haunches. She waited.

"All I really want is for you to know that I love you, Nicole. You do know that, don't you?" Waverly asked, in a small and slightly trembling voice.

Nicole sighed. She wanted to dismiss the question out of hand, but since their argument, and that one moment of doubt, knew she had lost the right to indignation, and Waverly was within her rights to seek reassurance.

"Of course I know that Waverly. Of course I do."

"Ok then." Waverly met Nicole's steady gaze with a deep, earnest, and pleading look.

"But I want everyone else to know too. I mean, _really_ know. Know that I've got no doubts at all about you, and that I'm yours completely. I want strangers to see your ring on my finger and know that I'm taken. I want you to carry mine with me on your patrol, and know that there's a piece of me wrapped around you, always. I want..."

The trembling in Waverly's voice grew more pronounced, and she took a breath, eyes beginning to fill as she struggled through her speech. "When you're next in hospital and I'm scared to death I want to be the one the doctors call, and the one they can talk to. When they ask me if I'm your next of kin, I want to be able to say yes." At that she broke down completely, and Nicole rose up onto her knees again, and then into a half-crouch, half hug, and pulled Waverly into her arms as she started to sob.

"Hey, hey, I get it Waves, I get it. Shh, baby, it's ok. It's all gonna be ok. I promise, we'll find a way, I promise." She rocked her lover as she cried. And with the desperation of wanting to find a way to end Waverly's pain, the half-idea she'd had the other night came back to her, and started to develop.

 

* * *

 

Dolls opened the door to the interrogation room in the basement of the station, and sat down next to Nedley. Nicole was sitting opposite them, in the seat where the suspect normally would. Her uniform immaculate, a notepad in front of her, and a serious expression on her face.

"Dolls, come in, take a seat. Thanks so much for making the time. And to you too, Nedley."

"Hrmph." grunted Nedley.

"I hear congratulations are in order." Dolls said, stiffly, as he sat. Nicole's serious manner dropped for a second, as she ducked her head and couldn't help a smile breaking out. She took a breath.

"Thanks. Thanks. Uh, so, you'll be wondering why I called you both down here."

"And why so cloak and dagger, Haught." Nedley said, looking more than a little annoyed at both her and Dolls. "Law enforcement doesn't hide in basements, Officer."

Nicole looked at him, and nodded. "I know, sir. But I promise you this is about law enforcement. In particular, it's about, ah, certain members of the Purgatory citizenry that live, well, outside the law shall we say."

Nedley fixes her with an eye, crosses his arms. "Go on."

"And Dolls, I've asked you here, because I think this will only work with your, erm, specialist government co-operation. If possible. First let me ask. Have you still got access to all your Black Badge facilities and contacts for this month?"

Dolls nodded, looking just as skeptical as Nedley.

"I have, Officer Haught. And I also have a technician, a Deputy and a consultant who I normally include in these conversations."

Nicole tilted her head delicately. "Well, yes. And if it's an idea that you both sign off on, then I fully commit to bringing both Earps into this conversation." She looks up, and into one and then the other's eyes, and for half a second they see Officer Haught leave, and Nicole sit in her place. With a look that spoke of love and affection, but also of a wry knowledge and sense of humour about what and who she was dealing with. "But they are _really_ not going to like it. So I need to be sure it's possible first."

And then the Officer is back.

"Ok. So. Here it is."

 

* * *

 

Waverly strode backwards and forwards in their kitchen, agitated, astonished, an anger bordering on fury.

"You have got to be fucking _kidding_ me!"

Nicole sat at the kitchen table, still in her uniform, and if she's honest, still in her uniformed state of mind. Letting the breakers of Waverly's anger wash over her as Sheriff's deputy, before she even tried to be her girlfriend again. Her _fiance_ , she corrected herself; the knowledge warming her and giving her further strength to continue the conversation.

"Rosita." Waverly said. She stood, glared at Nicole, then waved her arms in the air in a gesture of disbelief. " _Rosita!_ " 

"Rosita" replied Nicole, levelly.

"Rosita, who slammed my head off a pool table and would've left me for dead?"

Nicole winced. "Yes. That Rosita."

"Rosita, who was ready to take Alice away as a _bargaining_ chip? Who would've left my sister on a pool table with a broken heart where her baby should be?"

Nicole took a breath. "Uh-huh."

A beat.

"Rosita. Who, when I told you, it hurt you so much we nearly broke up?"

Nicole took a deep deep breath, as she looked down at her hands again, and then looked up at Waverly, eyes awash with hurt and forgiveness and frustration and love.

"Ok. Ok. Bad example. I hear what you're saying, and I get what you're saying, and I agree. I'm sorry Nicole. I really am sorry."

Nicole looked down again, saw her engagement ring, saw the flash of the small inset diamond like the flash of Waverly's eyes. It grounded her.

"Yes. That Rosita."

Waverly had run out of steam. She sat down opposite Nicole. Placed her hands flat on the table. Tilted her head, and with all the patience she could muster, Waverly tried her best to keep her voice from rising again with incredulity.

"Have you gone  _completely_   out of your mind, sweetie?"

 

A long, long, long talk later, and then another the day after, and then another the day after that; and Waverly was on board.

 

* * *

 

The conversation with Wynonna was a lot shorter.

Nicole, Dolls, and Waverly sat in a circle around her in the Black Badge offices. All now resolute, all now convinced. But knowing that without the Heir, the whole thing was dead in the water.

They explained.

Wynonna's always expressive face was a silent movie of astonishment, confusion, disbelief, and then anger.

" _Rosita?_ "

Waverly nodded, took this one for the team. "Rosita."

Wynonna stood, stared down at them in disgust. Looked up at the ceiling. Walked slowly to the door. Looked back at them. Laughed suddenly, and then the laugh fell from her face. She put her hands on her hips. Dropped them again. Looked up and to the side, thinking. Looked back to her sister.

"Babygirl?"

Waverly looked at her evenly. "I don't like it, Wy. But I think so, yeah."

"Fuck. _Fuck_. Okay. Lemme think."

She turned away, and walked slowly out the door.

 

And then walked back in.

"Yeah ok. So, how we going to do this then?"

 

* * *

  

They did it the same way they did everything with this generation of the Earps. With a little help from their friends.

The fundamentals of Nicole's idea were simple. Rosita was a revenant, and Rosita was smart. This meant two crucial things. First, the revenant, and the smart, meant that there was a really good chance that she had at least some ideas about who the final revenants might be, and where they were hiding. Undead and resurrected souls plunged in and out of hell for a hundred years have a habit of finding each other, and it was likely that at some stage in her history she would've run into almost all of them at least once.

Second, the smart meant ironically, that she herself might be found.

It meant that she was less likely to be living completely off grid than those that were left. She had her degrees, and both the skills and references to keep herself in bartending. As far as Doc knew, she had always tried to carve out something like a normal life for herself. Like all revenants she didn't actually _need_ what regular people needed to survive; but she had got used to more than just existing. She had got used to, in some way, living.

And so Nicole's idea was, that where someone lived amongst people, they left a trail.

The Sheriff's department had their standard means of enquiry where people were of interest. There were records that could be pulled, and favours that could be called in across the Ghost River Triangle. They didn't know whether to hope more for her disappearing into casual bar-work, or looking for more formal employment as a bio-chemist. The latter would certainly have a better paper-trail. But cops everywhere have an informal network in night-spots across the land that was nearly as effective for digging up results as their computer registers and search warrants were.

And Black Badge had their own specialisms. The operation had been founded with the noblest of goals, and its originators perhaps thought that their work would always be completely separate to standard policing.

But market economics finds its way, and to the shock of Black Badge's leaders down the years, they found that much like normal law enforcement agencies, they ended up busting just as many demons from following paper and money trails as they ever did following hauntings and cursed artifacts.

Black Badge discovered there were markets that would exchange blood curses for amulets, and amulets for ancient coin, and ancient coin for dollars. And once you've reached the great demon dollar, well, you're clear and away.

There was also a niche market in updated identities, ways of keeping a demon's supposed human identity going but with dates of birth updated or obfuscated to avoid the obvious question of what a 165 year-old was doing seeking employment or a bank account. And in this market there were dealers; and every dealer will make a deal, if the price was high enough.

With days of sweet talking, flattery, promises, and calling in the support of every Black Badge agent who had ever worked and respected him, Dolls persuaded the powers that be to take on the case. Bribes were approved to every dealer they were aware of, and after a couple of days one, in the far south of the Ghost River Triangle, provided a lead.

That's where the Sheriff's department picked up the trail. Nicole scoured through official records, made visits, seized CCTV recordings, narrowed their enquiries, ruled avenue after avenue out, until they were nearly sure. Bar-work. This was when Nedley stepped in, flicking through his filofax to find the number of an old colleague and drinking buddy who'd moved down to the region; who gave him a list of likely bars.

Finally, a week and a half after Wynonna's sign-off of the idea, Jeremy walked into the fifth bar of his scouting trip, in his deeply incongruous disguise of dark glasses, week-old stubble, shalwar kameez and a baseball cap, and saw Rosita, mixing up a cocktail far too good for the grungy looking truck-driver she was making it for.

 

* * *

 

If convincing the Earps was delicate, convincing Rosita would be near-on impossible.

They all argued into the night about how best they do it. Wynonna thought it was best she went; if Rosita could see that she didn't shoot her straight off, that would be proof that she wasn't going to. Waverly thought this was ridiculous, and that it would be better if she went. She felt, for all that Rosita had practically brained her, and she'd nearly sent Rosita to hell with Peacemaker in return, like they had had something of a meeting of minds, and that she'd be able to persuade her on an intellectual level. Dolls wanted to bring in the heavies, and Jeremy thought...well, no-one could really understand what Jeremy thought.

They went round and round, with Dolls trying to assert his authority on the operation but being shouted down by Wynonna pointing out that it was _her_ curse; Waverly trying her hardest not to pull intellectual rank but failing sometimes, much to the irritation of her big sister. Poor Jeremy got it worst, butting in at the worst moments with some incomprehensible non-sequiturs that had both Earps and Dolls alike turn round and shout almost in unison, not _now_ , Jeremy.

Throughout the raging argument, Nicole played middleman, soothing one ego then the other, seeing everyone's point, subtly bringing in the unpopular suggestions of Dolls and Jeremy as constructive suggestions, instead of as debating points to be won. Calming Waverly with a hand on her wrist, deferring to Wynonna's obvious lead as the Heir without letting her railroad the others.

Until finally, Wynonna sat back, and laughed.

"Hang on a second."

" _What._ " shot back Waverly, not trying to hide how pissed she was at her sister, and everybody, right now.

"So we want someone who understands the whole plan from top to bottom. Who is close enough to the curse to mean that they can vouch for the fact they have a personal stake in ending it enough to be taken seriously, but is not so close that it's going to spook Rosita into turning tail and bolting the second she lays eyes on them."

Jeremy looked up, hopefully.

"Who is friendly, and steady, and articulate, and who can deal with the sort of big egos that we've got, and still persuade us that up is down and that the sky is green and that inviting one of our mortal enemies into the fold to end it all is a really really good idea?"

Wynonna sits back, and grins. Locks eyes with Nicole.

"How you doin', Haught-stuff?"

 

* * *

 

Rosita Bustillos stood in a back-town bar in a back-water town in the back-end of a province time forgot. Cleaning a glass and thinking about bad luck, and worse choices.

She didn't look up as the door opened, but still registered a tall woman with heavy coat, heavy boots, and a trucker's cap pulled down low over her face approach the bar with a confidence, almost a swagger. Rosita had her normal reaction to such types, a mixture of _great, another trucker lesbian with a point to prove_ , and _hello, well this might make for an pleasant diversion_.

The woman reached the bar, hesitated a second, and then reached up and took her cap off. Red hair fell down around her shoulders, and Nicole met Rosita's eye.

"Hi, Rosita."

Rosita froze. Slowly put the glass she was cleaning down on the bar, and looked over Nicole's and then her own shoulder in rising panic. Started to back away.

"I came alone. I'm unarmed." Nicole took her coat off, held up her hands. "I just wanna talk."

The ingrained habit from one hundred years of running warred with the heaviness Rosita had been feeling since her encounters with the current generation of the Earp family, a desire to just get it all over and done with. Also the knowledge that this job hadn't been easy to find, and that she'd been eating through her options in the Ghost River Triangle. And she really didn't want to go back to living like a mongrel in the street.

"Just give me five minutes to talk with you? You can walk away any time, ok, but can you give me five minutes first? Please, Rosita?" Nicole's voice was quiet, authoritative, but warm; kind, her body language open but steady, resolute. She met Rosita's eye, and held it.

Rosita wasn't stupid, she knew that this was the way Nicole would talk to a drunk on patrol, or to break up a fight. But damn it was still effective.

Rosita swallowed. "Hi, Nicole. I'm glad you're alright."

A smile of relief, with some genuine warmth broke out over Nicole's face. For half a second, Rosita saw her for who she was rather than what she meant, and wished that she had been some truck-stop stranger after all. Waverly was a lucky woman.

"I'd actually almost forgotten about that would you believe? I've had a couple more run-ins since. _Thank you_ , Rosita. Waverly told me what you did for me when I was sick."

Rosita nodded, acknowledging and dismissing the thanks in one go, trying to hide the guilty look that flashed across her face.

"Yeeeah. She, ah, kinda mentioned that too. But it's ok, you're off the hook. It's Waves who copped the flack for that one."

Rosita looked up, raised one eyebrow apologetically. "You can't exactly blame me, can you?"

Nicole didn't know what instinct made her do it, but excitedly, almost girlishly, she brought her left hand up in front of Rosita's face. "Can't blame you at all, but you've missed your chance I'm afraid. Check it."

Rosita laughed, "Well, shit! Congratulations, you guys!"

Nicole herself couldn't help from beaming, feeling that same happy feeling that spread a smile across her face, and relaxed her shoulders, and warmed her throughout, every time someone new caught the ring. And it was this simple human and happy moment that thawed the tension, and Rosita shook her head, released a sigh, and gestured to a seat.

"Sit down, Nicole. I don't know about you, but I think I need a drink. On the house - what'll you have?"

 

* * *

 

Nicole laid it all out there. Both Doc and Waverly had cautioned her that Rosita was too smart for any prevarication, and so Nicole was completely honest about how much they needed her help, and what Rosita could expect back in exchange. She was also completely straight about the alternative; that if she didn't help end the curse, Wynonna would have to keep trying to do it the only way she knew how. And that Rosita had been found once, and so she might be found again.

If anything Rosita reacted positively to the honesty. Understanding that this wasn't meant as a threat, but just a laying out of all cards on the table. So she listened more openly to the rest of what Nicole had to say.

"And Alice is just a _baby_ , she doesn't deserve any of this. Wynonna and Waverly grew up with one parent or another not being there, and they can't bear the thought that that's what's happening with Alice too. I know that you might not care as much about the Earps as I do, Rosy, I know you've actually got real reasons to hate them; but please believe me when I say that this is killing them. I mean that literally. You can't tell anyone I told you this, especially not Wynonna, but she nearly...she nearly found her own way out, one day."

Rosita scoffed, slightly bitterly. "Some of us don't even have that option."

"Well, and still. It's not good. And you know what that would do to her sister."

Rosita looked at Nicole with genuine compassion. "How is Waverly?"

"She's ok. We've had our...ups and downs, recently. The curse doesn't help." Nicole sighed. It was beyond strange that she was confiding in this person, this _revenant_ , who had nearly taken the love of her life from her in two different ways. But there weren't a lot of people outside the Earps who Nicole could talk to about these things, and she found that Rosita was a good listener.

"I'd give anything to be arguing with her about the laundry like a normal couple, not..." she broke off. Gambled on complete vulnerability. "Not on whether we should get married now, so if one of us dies we can at least die married, or wait until we've finished the curse, so that we can have a wedding day without looking over our shoulders."

Rosita grimaced. "I see your point."

Nicole looked her in the eye again. "Good. Because it means so, so much to all of us, and _because_ we know we can only do it with your help, I _need_ you to believe me when I say Wynonna will keep her promise."

Rosita scoffed. "But how can I rely on that? Say I help you find the others, and I'm the last one left. Then she's just one shot away from the end of the curse. How can she _possibly_ resist that temptation?"

Nicole shrugged. "You're not stupid, Rosita."

"I'm really not."

"There's always going to be that risk, yes. So yes, ultimately you'd have to trust us. But you'd be trusting _all_ of us. Me. Doc. Waverly wouldn't let Wynonna go back on a promise like that, you know that. We _all_ promise that if you help us get the others, we will do whatever it takes, to try and find some other way out for you. We've got 27 years before Alice is old enough for it all to start again. And c'mon, you Waves and Jeremy working together on something for 27 years? I think if you guys set your minds to it you'd work out clean energy from nuclear fission in half that time!"

"Fusion." corrected Rosita, automatically. The part of her that had ambition, and a fierce intelligence; bored to tears and trapped by only having expression in constructing increasingly elaborate cocktails started to run away with itself, imagining how their skills complemented each other, and how it might be _fun_ to set her mind against such an unsolveable problem.

And she couldn't deny it, she was lonely. Always on the run, never able open up to anyone, always looking over her shoulder. What might it be like to be part of a team? More than that, a team where she didn't have to hide what she was? She wouldn't have to be looking over her shoulder for the Heir, because she'd be stood right beside her.

Nicole saw it, and took the chance to press home her argument.

"And, Rosita. There's something else."

Just a quirk of an eyebrow.

"You're a good person. Waverly thinks that, despite all that went down, and I think she's right. And this is the right thing to do."

 

* * *

 

Late that night, Nicole opened the door to their place, came in, hung her coat up, put her keys down. And just stood, looking almost as tired and drawn as the morning of their fight.

Waverly stood up from the couch where she'd been waiting anxiously, walked up to Nicole, and raising her arms around her neck pulled her into a long, close hug. Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly's waist, closed her eyes and buried her head into Waverly's shoulder, and just breathed and breathed the scent of Waverly, the scent that meant home.

They'd spoken on the phone earlier, briefly. "She's going to text?" Waverly asked Nicole, scarcely believing that Nicole had walked out the bar, left Rosita to maybe run and disappear again, without an answer.

Nicole stayed where she was for a second, and then squeezed Waverly into her for a moment, and then released and pulled back a little. Looked down into trusting but worried eyes.

"We're asking her to trust us with the biggest thing she possibly can. She talked a little about what it was like when...you know. That's what she's risking, for all eternity, by helping us. We've _got_ to show her that we trust her first."

Waverly just looked up at Nicole. Seeing in this moment again her innate decency, the natural judgement and understanding that Nicole protested wasn't intelligence, but Waverly knew was something more. The strength of character to take such a huge gamble for all of them, and the humbleness and fear that meant that she knows she might just have got it wrong.

Not knowing what to say, she brought a hand around to Nicole's face and then leaned up and placed just one soft, tender kiss to her lips. And then drew back, and said the only thing she knew to be absolutely true. "I love you so much, Nicole."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so hands up who saw
> 
> a) the proposal  
> b) Rosita, coming? 
> 
> Both were guessable, although the proposal perhaps a little more obviously so :)


	6. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Rosita's help they get closer than ever to ending The Curse. But what might they need to gamble to finish it once and for all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING READ THIS FIRST!!!
> 
> Ok. So, after the ups of last chapter, this one goes down to some pretty dark places. Specifically, it mentions the possibility of some genuinely nasty stuff for one of our characters. I am going to go ahead now and confirm _this bad shit does not actually happen to them._ I'm not going to say everything goes 100% smoothly, but nothing really bad actually happens, everyone comes out safe and secure and unharmed at the end. Okay? Okay.
> 
> I hope you understand me saying this. I ummed and ah'd for ages before writing this warning, as I generally am not a huge fan of when stories are pre-spoiled through tags or whatever, and prefer to go in blind even if that carries a bit of uncertainty as to what you're getting in to.
> 
> However, I also know how protective people feel over these characters - myself included - and I think there's a real chance that if I were to read some of the plot points in this chapter I might just stop reading, not wanting to even entertain the thought that these things might happen. So I've erred on the side of caution and put this warning in; keeping it vague enough to at least give some point to reading the damn thing!
> 
> Now, if you're worried by the sound of the above and want to know more about what I'm talking about, or if you need to be careful about triggers, I have also put a) more detailed and specific spoilers, b) reading instructions for how you can skip the nastier bits whilst still following the overall story arc in the end notes to this chapter. Follow the link and see the section there under **asterixes**
> 
> But hope majority of y'all ok to read through the angst, knowing it's just that, and everything will be alright in the end.

 

Three in the morning, and Nicole awoke. They had fallen asleep spooning, and Nicole was still pressed fully up against Waverly's back, one arm under the pillow her head lay on, the other wrapped around her waist; whether as comfort for Waverly or for Nicole herself, neither of them ever knew.

For a second she couldn't work out what had woken her, but then registered that the room was half-lit with the wan electric light of a phone display, before it timed off and it fell dark again. She hadn't heard any notification, but assumed one must have pulled her from her sleep nonetheless.

She carefully disentangled herself from Waverly, who stirred, and grumbling in her sleep, turned over to instinctively seek Nicole's touch again. Nicole lay on her back, and let Waverly nestle into her, putting an arm around her and placing a kiss on the head that found its place on her shoulder, whilst she fumbled to get her phone unlocked with the other hand.

And then she stiffened, and her heart thudded once, hard. And Waverly's body must've registered it, because she woke fully this time, looking up into Nicole's now wide-awake and disbelieving eyes.

"Nicole?"

Nicole turned the phone display around so Waverly could see.

_Rosita: 03:08:_

_[I'm in.]_

\---

The first meeting at Black Badge was awkward, to say the least.

Doc led an extremely nervous but defiant looking Rosita into their offices, to meet a host of curious, suspicious, and hopeful eyes.

Waverly being Waverly, ran straight up to her and gave her a warm hug. Perhaps over-compensating out of nervousness, she also dropped a kiss to Rosita's cheek, at which she heard a loud exhale behind her. Nicole had made her peace with what had happened between them, but it had shaken her emotionally more than she knew she could be, and was not at all ready to see even a platonic kiss.

Dolls was his usual dry uncharismatic self, trying to get down to business before she'd so much as taken her coat off. Wynonna, misjudging the mood completely and running to her normal defense mechanism of inappropriate humour, greeted her with a shit-eating grin, a raised hand for a high-five, and a “Wazzup, Revenant?”. Rosita bristled, and shot back “Nothing much I hear, Heir, something I can do for you?”

There was a tense silence. Rosita herself finally broke it.

“Ok. If we're gonna do this, let's do this. Get me up to speed with where you're at, and I'll let you know if there's anything I can do.”

 

* * *

 

If the day started badly, it rapidly got much better. Nicole found she couldn't stand to be in there any longer, and with a kiss and whisper from Waverly that she'd already done the hardest part, was sent on her way with their blessing. Wynonna stayed to keep an eye on progress, but lost interest in the detail of the papers and records pretty quickly. Even Dolls and Jeremy got kicked out the conversation in favour of Waverly and Rosita just running together through the lists of revenants put down, suspected, and ruled out; whilst Rosita took notes, asked questions for clarification, and everyone else just stayed clean out of their way.

By the end of a whirlwind day Rosita's head was swimming with names, faces and stories, but looked pleased with herself.

“Gimme tonight to think about it, but I think I might have something already, guys.”

Waverly turned to Wynonna and actually squealed.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day she sat them all down.

“Ok. So, what did your last accountant look like?”

Dolls crinkled his brow. “Uh, I don't actually know. I send in everything by email these days.”

Wynonna sniggered. “Accountant. Yeah, right.”

Waverly tried a little harder. “No, come on you guys, you know, there's that office in town, opposite the diner? Smith Brothers, isn't it?”

“That's the one,” Rosita encouraged, “and what do they look like?”

“Oh. Well sure, that's easy. The older Mr Smith always has on a really smart suit, and wears glasses, and, ah, I think he's got grey hair?”

“And the other Mr Smith?”

“Err...” Waverly thought. “Glasses? A suit? Hang on a minute, you're not saying the Smith brothers are revenants, are you? I've seen them get older.”

Rosita paused, enjoyed the feeling of everyone hanging on her next word.

“Doc, do you remember what _your_ banker looked like?”

Doc hadn't really been paying attention, but was sat cleaning under his nails with the point of small knife. Hearing his name he looked up.

“Hmm? Oh, now I seem to recall he had these small round wire spectacles, and he was well dressed of course, nobody would trust a man with their money unless he was suitably dressed. He was from a great family, a family of seven sons. The Smith family, I do believe it was.”

Rosita nodded, vindicated. “Accountants are _invisible_. They put on a suit, and glasses, and nobody looks at them twice because everybody they're dealing with is thinking about their money, and when they're thinking about money, they're not thinking straight at all. Doc's right, there was a family of seven sons back in our time, all of them in banking. Three stayed straight but there was a lot of money to be made back then playing fast and loose with the rules, and four were put down by Wyatt after defrauding half a town of their life savings.”

“But there's only two at Smith brothers. And they get older.” Waverly stood with her arms crossed and a frowning, unsure if she was more puzzled or pissed that she might have missed something obvious.

“Sure." said Rosita, kindly. "But it's not that there's only two. You only _see_ two at a time, because that's how they work it. They alternate. The youngest and second oldest will work for a few years, and then they swap to the next age up, and everyone thinks that's them aging, and then they swap again. Sooner or later they introduce a new young son, and off they go again. They all wear the same suits, they all look similar enough to get away with it, and these days they hardly have to meet anybody face to face at all, which means they're even less likely to get caught.”

“Well I'll be damned” said Dolls, in a voice of amazement. “I'm almost impressed. Hiding in plain sight all that time.”

Wynonna hopped off the desk she'd been sitting on, and pulled Peacemaker out. “Well then. What are we waiting for?”

 

* * *

 

It took a little more planning that that, but not a whole lot more. They set up a stakeout to watch the offices and the apartment in which they guessed they all lived together upstairs. They only ever saw the same two enter or leave the building, or work in the offices themselves. But by the end of the their first day's stakeout they had already caught a movement upstairs at a time when there were two brothers downstairs, and a couple of days later spotted a double movement behind the curtains, confirming that all four were there.

And it was almost anti-climactically easy to set up the operation to end them. Revenant demons they may have been, but they were also genuinely accountants too, and so on the night they busted in all four were present and correct, tucked up asleep in bed, in varying colours of plain pyjamas, in plain and depressing rooms empty of any human adornment or character. Simultaneously the hardest kills to date, in how long it had taken to find them, and the easiest; two of them not even waking before receiving their final shot.

So it was that at four in the morning, high on adrenaline and the scarcely believable rush of having got so much closer to the end after months of dead ends and brick walls, that Doc let Wynonna, Dolls, Rosita and Waverly into Shorty's for an impromptu celebration. Rosita got behind the bar and started mixing up her magic, whilst Wynonna and Waverly fought over the jukebox, turning the music up and up as each cocktail went down.

Nicole had deliberately volunteered for night-shifts that week, in case anything should go down that would require a more traditional law enforcement response. Waverly had called her after the operation to say it had all gone smoothly; but she got another call at a quarter to six, this time from dispatch to go and deal with noise complaints. She headed over to Shorty's with a knowing grin.

When she stepped inside, she saw Doc and Rosita slow dancing to a completely different rhythm to the upbeat country song coming from the jukebox; Wynonna trying to flirt Dolls away from winning his third straight game of pool, and Waverly sat on a high stool at the bar sipping a straw and smiling into space a little woozily.

No-one had even registered her entrance.

“Y'all are under arrest for buying and selling liquor outside licensing hours!” she called from the door, to announce herself.

“Sweetie!” Waverly reacted first, slipping off the stool and running over to Nicole, full on jumping into her arms and forcing Nicole to stagger back against the door. Nicole recovered, and catching the exuberance of the moment, wrapped her arms tight around Waverly, and leant back, pulling her into the air, and happily letting Waverly lean down and give her a sloppy but enthusiastic kiss.

“Why Officer Haught, I am neither selling this liquor nor are my guests buying. I do however most humbly apologise for this _awful_ music. The Earps are celebratin' ”

“It's alright, John Henry, I'm not serious. Would you turn it down though? We have been getting complaints.”

Having a uniformed officer turn up, even one who was part of their inner circle, was always going to put a bit of a dampner on the mood of an illicit lock-in, besides which they had all started to feel the effects of a full night's wired adrenaline replaced by booze and good feeling. So they started to wrap it all up.

Dolls had been watching his intake and so offered to drive Wynonna back to the homestead. Rosita and Doc stayed to get on with what they loudly and unconvincingly assured all parties was just clearing up the bar before its regular opening later that morning. And so Nicole and Waverly stepped outside together, and started the short walk to their place.

Nicole thought she could justify walking Waverly home just this once, and she did so holding her hand. This is not something they'd normally do with Nicole on duty, but at this early hour of the morning the streets were deserted, and in any case both were high on the excitement of the day and didn't really care even if they were seen.

“What time do you get off again, baby?”

Nicole looked at her watch. “Not long. Seven.”

“Okaaay...so by my calculations, you'll be getting off at, what? Seven fifteen?” Waverly waggled her eyebrows, much less subtley than she was probably going for.

Nicole laughed, and then Waverly joined in, and they walked together to their home, hand in hand and hearts singing, through the misty pre-dawn light.

 

* * *

 

They all took the next day off, and reconvened the day after that.

And as each came into the Black Badge offices, and saw the look of apprehension, no, fear, on Rosita's face, the high came crashing down.

The curse wasn't fun. The curse was dark, and hard, and dangerous. And that day they all got a hell of a reminder of that.

 

* * *

 

Rosita spent the morning going through papers on her own, deep in thought, sighing and frowning, making notes and cross references, and not telling anyone, not even Waverly, what was going on. Until at gone four in the afternoon she sat back, held her hand over her mouth for a second, and then finally spoke.

“Shit. Ok, we need a meeting. Everybody.”

Wynonna walked around and sat opposite where Rosita had been working, and looked straight into her eyes. The friction that had been between them since her return had almost completely eroded, since Rosita had proved her worth so fast, and Wynonna had in her own way shown that she was one of the gang again, by giving her an equal amount of shit, no more no less, than all of the others. But now, Wynonna dropped it all, and used the serious voice that meant business.

“What's going on, Rosita. You're scaring me a little.”

Rosita looked back at her. “Good. You're right to be scared.”

 

* * *

 

Nicole, still on nights, had to be woken up and got round to the station, but then they were all there. Doc and Dolls, Waverly and Jeremy, and Nicole and Wynonna, all sat in a loose circle around Rosita.

She looked as distraught as anyone could remember a person looking.

“So. Seventy one down. Six to go, if you - ”

“Five” interrupted Wynonna.

Rosita looked at her gratefully, quirked the edge of her mouth up in thanks, barely a smile, but Wynonna caught it, nodded her acknowledgement.

“Five left. Five that none of you have ever encountered, and there are no records of. Five left...” her voice trailed off “...and I'm pretty sure I know who they are.”

“Ok, well, that's good, right, guys?” Waverly jumped in. Her usual chirpy enthusiasm fell flat in the heavy atmosphere of the meeting.

Rosita looked at her, and then looked quickly away. To everyone's surprise, she had to wipe quickly at her eyes before continuing.

Nicole didn't know why, but she suddenly felt sick. She looked across to Waverly, who was looking with simple curiosity at Rosita.

“And...and I'm pretty sure I know how to get to them.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Please forgive me for thinking of this, but I've _literally_ been to hell and back.”

Wynonna and Waverly exchanged worried looks. Dolls took the plunge.

“Rosita. Would you please tell us what you're thinking.”

 

* * *

 

Rosita explained.

The final five were a gang of backwoodsmen. They had been lawless and cruel even by the standards of Wyatt Earp's day, wanted for murder, and rape, and every form of theft and lawlessness. It had been a near miracle that Wyatt had managed to put them down at all, all being wiley and cunning and merciless, and all able to live off and disappear into the land like they were already ghosts when they were still living.

Rosita had never encountered them when she was first alive, but after her first and only stint in hell, and then as the decades passed and the whole sorry Earp cycle repeated again and again, she learned of the band almost as a story that revenants used to scare each other with. They had been bad enough as men, but after one turn in hell, and then another, they became crueller, and harder, and more and more paranoid about getting caught. They stuck together closer and closer, but severed ties with both the living world and the revenant, even going so far as to capture and torture other revenants just for the fun of it.

Rosita didn't say anything about what they might have done to regular people over the years, but she caught Dolls' eyes at one point, and he understood.

They had sufficient skills that they could hunt and gather food off the land, and for the most part keep themselves sheltered and hid. And, when they couldn't, the terror of going back to hell was stronger than the pain of gnawing hunger and biting cold, and then they just sat, and shivered in the cold and the dark, plotting.

 

* * *

 

Night had started to fall outside, and it was increasingly dim in the Black Badge offices. Rosita had finally fallen quiet, looking down at her hands. Jeremy cleared his throat, got up and switched the overhead lights on.

“So then! That doesn't sound very good.”

It was, as always with Jeremy, an utterly unhelpful observation. But somehow it shifted the mood in the room away from the bleak story Rosita had been setting out.

“It doesn't, does it Jer. Rosita, is there any hope at all?” Wynonna asked her, flat out.

“Yes. I think I know where they are. I mean, not exactly. But they're rumoured to prefer the border of the badlands with the start of Harper's Forest.”

“Ok, well then, let's saddle up, huh? Dolls? Everybody? Stakeout time?”

Rosita shook her head. “They're too canny. They will keep the whole area they live in under constant watch. They see the heir coming, they won't risk exposing themselves in a million years. Likewise anything official. Any police car, or Black Badge operation. They'll just melt back into the trees and you'll never find them.”

“Well, shit then, Rosita, thanks a heap. Did you just bring us here to tell us this scary ghost story before bed for fun?”

“ 'Nonna...” said Waverly, quietly. “Let her finish.”

Nicole's sick feeling grew, and she felt her breaths start to come short. There was something, a shadow or a hint that she couldn't quite grasp in Waverly's tone.

Rosita looked at Waverly, and they held each other's eyes for a long time. Rosita went on, talking to the whole room, but continuing to look straight into Waverly's eyes.

“We need to draw them out, and then watch where they go back to. And for that we need bait. Bait big enough to make them bite.”

Waverly nodded, took a shaky breath, frowned, almost imperceptably shook her head, and then closing her eyes in grief and acceptance, her guess now near enough confirmed, spoke.

“And that means me. We need to get them to take me.”

“What?!” asked Wynonna, disbelief warring with anger in her voice, at the same time as Nicole heard herself say in a rising tone “No. No. _No_.”

Wynonna turned desperately between Rosita and Waverly, and then looked round at Nicole for support, who was wide-eyed, still shaking her head, not quite believing what she was hearing. Wynonna finally looked at Dolls, who to her disgust looked impassive, like he wanted to hear more before deciding.

Rosita carried on, in a flat tone. "They won't take any risk that might lead to them being sent back down to hell. But, ok, the fact they're so cut off means they almost certainly won't know about Alice, or that Waverly's not a true Earp. They'll think that if they can get both of you, then that's the end of the curse for them; and for that, they'd risk coming out into the open and being seen."

“Well, ok, I'll go then! They'll come out for me, surely. One down, right? Why are you talking about Waves?"

Rosita sighed, frustrated, and continued in a hurrying voice full of emotion, “It wouldn't work if you went first, Wynonna. If you went first, they know they'd be getting the full Heir, full of your skill and ability and quick thinking, and carrying Peace-maker too. But if we could make them think that they could take Waverly, and that we didn't know that they had her, then they'd know they could use her to break you before they sent you a come-and-get-her note. And then they'd know they'd only need to fight the shell of you. You'd be wild, and acting on emotion only, and you'd be easy for them to pick off. The _only_ way it's gonna work is if we put her in a position where they think that they can take her, and use her to get to you.”

Rosita blurted it all out, and then looked shocked at what she'd said, and stopped dead. She looked and addressed Waverly directly now, shaking her head with pain and regret. “I'm so so sorry Waverly. I can't believe I'm suggesting this.”

Waverly replied in a quiet but accepting tone. “Hey. It's ok, Rosy. None of this is your fault.”

Wynonna started to ask “What exactly do you mean, use her to break me? How would...” and then she sat back in her seat, hard. Colour drained from her face. In a low voice that none of them recognised, maybe because it was the first time that any of them had heard Wynonna actually sound scared, “No, Rosita. You're out of your fucking mind. I'm not risking that.”

Nicole was lost. This horror show, this nightmare that she found herself inside, was getting more and more nightmareish by the moment, as there seemed to be three or four spoken and unspoken conversations going on simultaneously, none of which she was following.

All she knew is that the three people in the room who had seen the most darkness in the world seemed to be on the same wavelength, and she realised as she registered this that that meant something bad. Something very very bad. At that moment she finally understood that the sick feeling that had been building in the pit of her stomach was simply fear.

“Would someone _please_ explain to me what you're talking about?” She saw Waverly catch her abject look, and break the circle by getting up, and walking around and standing next to Nicole's chair, resting her hand on her shoulder. Tried to say in a light tone, "I'm guessing they would plan to...keep me for a bit?”

“What?” Nicole asked, tilting her head up to Waverly, fear growing by the second as she saw her girlfriend's expression, hiding something from her. “What is everyone talking about, Waverly?”

Waverly looked down at Nicole with love and compassion, and turning fully to her, pulled her head against her stomach, and started to softly stroke her hair, and waited until Nicole's arms looped round the back of her waist. Then she nodded to Wynonna.

“They'd torture her, Haught. They'd r-...do things to her. Send me evidence, send me god knows what, until I was out of my mind with worry."

Waverly felt Nicole's arms tighten around her, and her start to shake. She felt a wetness through her shirt, and Nicole burying her head tighter against her.

Wynonna's sardonic tone was back as she continued. "They'd carry on until it was too much, and I went in half-cocked and crazy, and then they'd kill us both. That's about the size of it, isn't it Rosita?”

Rosita started wiping her own tears away, nodding, and adding in a sad but insistent voice “But that's the only reason why it would work. They are not going to risk anything unless they thought they had a real chance to get both of you. But offer them that chance, and they've got a weakness. Just for a second.”

“Well, you can forget about it. Chin-up Haught-stuff, it's ok, there's no way. No _way_ we're doing this.”

The room fell silent, except for the hitching breaths of Nicole as she tried to stop herself from crying in front of them all, scared and horrified at what she'd been hearing, but maybe beginning to regain composure at Wynonna's definite decision.

Waverly waited as long as she could, just stroking Nicole's hair until she'd calmed. And then stood back, and knelt down for a second, and looked up into Nicole's haunted eyes, and whispered, “Remember I love you Nicole, ok?”

Nicole just nodded back, confused, but unable to speak through the lump in her throat.

Waverly stood up, faced the room.

“I think we should do it. Nicole, Wynonna? You both get a veto on this. I won't do it if I can't convince both of you. But I think we should do it. I think we've got to.”

 

* * *

 

Waverly's statement hadn't gone down very well.

Nicole had risen to her feet, anger now overtaking upset, and had shouted as loud as any of them had ever heard her, “I get a veto? Ok, well, I veto! You're not doing it! End of discussion!” She'd stormed out, and Waverly had let her.

She'd turned around to her sister, who, completing the switch in how the two most important people in her life normally behaved, was cool, and calm, and steady. “You know I don't always agree with Nicole, but I'm with her on this one, baby girl. It's a no. We'll find another way.”

Waverly had just stood on the spot and rubbed her eyes, and said that it was late, and it had been a hell of a week, and perhaps they should all just go home.

They had. She herself had gone home to an incandescent Nicole, and their second big argument. Still awful in its own way, but somehow less bad than the last one; Waverly's ring on Nicole's finger somehow grounding both of them despite their anger and frustration into knowing that they loved each other, and they were each other's, and they were safe to rage at each other because they knew that it would never again pull them apart.

This time Nicole actually had slept on the sofa, unable to bear lying next to Waverly whilst she was so angry at her for even considering putting herself in that sort of position.

The next night, she'd started off on the sofa again. Waverly had sighed, but understanding Nicole's upset, had let her, and retreated back to their room alone.

To be woken, sometime around two, by Nicole lifting the covers and getting back into bed, and wordlessly gathering her into a hug. Waverly turned, and allowed herself to melt into the comfort of Nicole's embrace, and they just breathed, and held each other close and tight, and after a long, long time, under the cover of darkness, and in the safety of each other's arms, they finally found they could talk about it.

“I'm so so sorry, Nicole. I get how you're reacting and I don't blame you at all. I just think it's the best way. The only way.”

Nicole stayed silent, a really, really long time. Waverly thought she might even have fallen asleep, until she heard Nicole start talking in a small, broken, voice.

“I know, Waverly. I think that's why I'm so angry. I know that's true. But I just start to think about it, and start to think about what could go wrong, and I lose my mind.”

Waverly just squeezed her.

“I know, baby. I know. I would be the same if it were the other way around, I promise you. I just...think of it this way. If you could do something, put yourself on the line, to end the curse, for me? Would you?”

“Yes.” Nicole didn't even think about it. It was just her instinctive response, and Waverly almost laughed at the absurd gallantry of it.

“So you'd sacrifice yourself in a heartbeat, for me and my sister? Well, you can't. But this is what you can do. This might be your sacrifice.”

“I don't understand, Waves.”

“To let me take this risk, and for you to risk the possible consequences of that. Look, we have to have a solid plan if it's going to work, and of course I'm not going to do anything unless I'm really happy we've got it worked out as safely as we can. But the whole thing relies on them thinking they can...and so we need to set it up to look like that. And that means there's always going to be a risk that...that stuff might actually happen.”

Nicole tightened her arms around Waverly, held her breath for a long moment. Waverly let her, tracing her fingers up and down her back to try and comfort her. After a time, Nicole relaxed a little again, and Waverly continued.

“We're so close, Nicole. Five left. _Five_. And I don't know if we've ever had all these resources together before. We've got us Earps, and the Sheriff's department through you and Nedley, and Black Badge, although not for much longer. And a revenant on board and helping us. I've studied my family back to the start of it all, Nicole, you know that, and we've never been so close. And now we've got an idea of how we might end it. How can we possibly not pursue that?”

Nicole couldn't argue. So she didn't. She didn't try to use logic to argue with Waverly, she knew there was no merit in that. She just came back to the same, the only thought, that had been running round and around and around her head.

“But what if it goes wrong?”

Waverly sighed. “Then it does. Then...shit.” She disentangled herself from Nicole, and sat up, and reached over, and switched on the light, and saw Nicole sit up herself. Knowing that what she was about to say was going to affect Nicole, and wanting to watch her carefully, be there for her when she said it. “Then it does. Then they kill me, and probably hurt me before they do, and you spend the rest of your life broken, and wishing you'd never let me win this argument.”

Nicole's face crumpled, and she shook her head, and tears started to fall again. For once, Waverly doesn't reach for her.

“I'm just so tired, Nicole.”

Nicole looks up through her tears, startled and scared to hear the same words as she'd heard Wynonna use, after that time in Shorty's.

“Every Earp knows that they or at least one of their family has got a really good chance of being killed, Nicole. Killed violently. Our parents, our children. Ourselves. And anyone who lives with us knows that that's what they're facing too. Our whole lives, Nicole, never safe, always looking over our shoulders."

She drops her voice, and says with real understanding, and compassion, and love.

“I know what I'm suggesting isn't a sacrifice for me. There's nothing they could do to me that would be as bad as what you'd go through after if they did. I get that, Nicole. But please try to see it from my position. This is a chance to end it. For Alice to never have to go through all this. For it all, just to finally, be done.” Waverly took a deep breath before continuing.

“And please don't for a second think that I'm ok asking you for this. I'm not, I hate that I'm asking you for this. Because I love you, Nicole, more than I knew it was ever possible to love a person, and I'm not at all scared about what might happen to me, but I am _terrified_ about what that would do to you. But I am still asking you. Will you help me end this? For Wynonna? For Alice? For all of us?”

Nicole sat, shaking her head, back and forth, back and forth, like if she ever stopped it would be too late to say no. But now facing the truth that she'd always thought that she would do anything Waverly asked her to do. Thinking of what it meant to love, and honour, and obey.

Waverly reached a hand out, and placed it on her knee.

“Ok. _Fuck_. I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. But, ok.”

 

* * *

 

Wynonna took a lot more convincing.

In fact, she simply ruled it out, and completely ignored all attempts to raise the subject.

Waverly, knowing her sister's stubbonness and how there was really no point in arguing with her once she had her mind up, just co-ordinated the planning regardless.

They plotted, and as far as they could without being found out, surveyed, and researched, and Rosita spoke to shadowy figures she knew, and Doc spoke to those that he did, and slowly, slowly, a plan formed.

It got so good that some of them even started feeling some enthusiasm for it. Not Nicole, never Nicole, but all the others could see the strength of it, and if not eager, at least were curious about how such a plan might work out.

Everyone tried to speak to Wynonna privately to convince her. Except Nicole, who said that she'd go along with Waverly's wishes, but point blank refused to participate in changing the mind of the only other veto in their group.

Until one night they found themselves together and alone in the kitchen of the station, making themselves coffee.

Wynonna turned on Nicole, and said with real bitterness, “So I always genuinely thought that you loved my sister.”

Nicole stood still. Replied quietly, “I do, Wynonna. More than anything.”

“Then why are you behind this idiotic plan of hers?”

Nicole shook her head. “I'm not. I hate it. I _hate_ it.” There was a note of real venom, of vitriol, that Wynonna hadn't realised Nicole had in her. But then heard Nicole's voice soften again, back to her normal level drawl. “I'm supposed to try to convince you it's a good idea.”

“Huh. Some chance.”

“I know. Right?”

They actually smiled at each other then, pained, understanding smiles.

“Wynonna.”

“Yes, Haughty-McHaught-stuff.”

“I think it's a shitty plan.”

“Me too, Nicole. Me too.”

They stirred sugar and whiskey into their coffees, respectively.

“Wynonna?”

“Mm?”

“Waverly thinks it's a good plan.”

Wynonna didn't reply.

 

In the end that's all it took.

 

* * *

 

It started off slow. It had to. They couldn't just have Waverly wander about with a 'kidnap-me-now' sign in the middle of the badlands. The Five would instantly see that something was suspicious, and leave her be.

So, they concocted a hobby for Waverly and Nicole. Long walks in the countryside, with binoculars and notepads for bird watching, and a blanket and picnic supplies.

The birdwatching was Waverly's idea, and a master stroke. She explained that it was a plausable hobby for an apparently handy and outdoorsy lesbian like Nicole to be sharing with her girlfriend, giggling a little at the idea of her fiancé being into birdwatching. Nicole was such a city girl that in reality she could barely identify a flock of ducks when they were flying right at her head.

But it would double as a way in which they could scan the skyline with only minimal suspicion. Jeremy had kitted them out with adapted binoculars that radioed a feed of what they were seeing straight back to Black Badge, and Doc sat watching the screen closely for any sign that people or persons had been in the area. He started to see hints and clues, and these started to stack up, and with that they got a pretty firm idea of the overall area where they thought the Five might be hiding out.

They moved onto the next stage of the plan. They couldn't come back to the same area too often, any real walker would want to mix up where they went. So they needed some reason to make the prime area they suspected special, to justify repeated visits, and for Waverly to eventually go there on her own.

So one sunny Sunday, early in May, skin crawling with fear and revulsion at the falsehood of what they were doing; certain that they would by now be being watched, Nicole and Waverly put out their picnic blanket and staged a romantic encounter. Enough for any onlooker to think it might be a legitimate laying down of a special memory between them both in this place.

 

That night, Waverly herself nearly bailed out of the plan. She was stuck on and freaking out at the idea that she and Nicole had had to pretend to have this beautiful moment, when in reality both of them were terrified, of what they were doing, what was to come, and that as a result of their plan, the moment they were faking might never actually be allowed to happen.

It was Dolls that found her outside the back door of the station, crying and shaking and terrified. He gathered her into his arms, and allowed her to have her moment of panic and horror at all that they were doing, and all that it meant.

Waverly had been so resolute, unwavering and staying strong enough for both Wynonna and Nicole; but now the weight of it all came crashing down on her. And out of sight of both her sister and her love, she finally found she couldn't keep it all in anymore.

Dolls was a good man. Stiff and awkward true, but loyal, and though he tried his best to hide it, loving in his own way too.

“We can stop this any time, Waverly, you know that. I can go in there right now and call a stop to this whole thing.”

It was what Waverly needed to hear. That it was all under her control, and nothing would happen without her say so.

“It's okay. It's okay, Dolls. We'll go ahead. I just...I hate it.”

 

Finally, they set a date.

 

* * *

 

The night before, Nicole and Waverly went to bed, and for the first time in a long time, they touch each other.

Their sex had become infrequent, and then stopped completely. The stress and strain of what they were going through was too great. Neither could let go enough to want to do anything else than just hold each other.

And so though they kissed, and caressed, and whispered love to each other every night and every morning, they found themselves too scared to go beyond that. As if if they did, then the magnitude of the risk they were about to take would come crashing down on them, and be the end of it all.

But that night, Nicole found her hand unable to settle where it usually did around Waverly's waist. She found it moving as if by itself, around the soft skin of Waverly's stomach, then up to her hip, and down her thigh, and then back up again.

She kissed the dip of Waverly's back in front of her, the soft downy hairs there tickling her lips, and heard and felt Waverly's breathing catch, and then Waverly was turning around in her arms, and Nicole felt her lay a hand on her cheek, reassurance and love in one simple gesture.

Nicole turned her face and kissed the palm of the hand there, and then with her own hand held Waverly's arm as she kissed the inside of the wrist, and then started kissing up the arm; gentle, soft kisses, not asking for anything, not wanting anything but simply to kiss love to every part of Waverly she could.

By the time she reached the top of Waverly's arm they were both breathing a little harder. Waverly rolled onto her back, removing her night shirt with one smooth motion and kicking down her pyjama pants, and then Nicole rolled on top of her, and then leant down, and kissed her lips. She kissed her, and Waverly kissed her back firmly, wanting, needing; until their breathing grew too heavy to kiss any more, and then Nicole started moving down Waverly's body, soft touches of her lips coupled with hands roaming and touching and stroking, her breasts, up and down her sides, her legs, everywhere. As if by touching every inch of Waverly she could memorise her, as if her touch alone was enough to keep her safe.

She spent a long time kissing up and down Waverly's stomach, taut abs overlaid with gentle curves, and ducking down to lick and kiss the sensitive skin at the dip between body and hip and thigh, until she heard Waverly's breathing so ragged she couldn't let her wait any longer, and moved down fully between her legs, and, reverently, put her open mouth to Waverly, and started to taste.

If she'd been soft elsewhere, she was softer there. Knowing that Waverly needed more to come, but just wanting to take every sensation in for as long as she could. She felt Waverly relax into the experience, her hands lightly touching the back of Nicole's head, not hurrying or urging her like she sometimes did. Nicole just kissed, and slipped and pressed her tongue everywhere, and lost herself in the taste of Waverly's heat and need, as her hands and arms continued their restless journey up and down Waverly's hips, her sides, her legs.

Until finally, finally, they both needed more, and Nicole let the movements of her tongue grow more insistent and centred, and brought one hand around, and pushed just a single finger inside, and Waverly's heavy breaths started to turn into moans, and then hands and tongue and hips started to move together in unstoppable harmony, until Waverly was gasping, and her legs closed around Nicole's head, and Nicole felt the orgasm ripple inside, and then she was crawling up, wiping her wet face and then leaning down and kissing Waverly one more time on the lips, and then just hovering above her, holding her and watching her, as she slowly, slowly, came back down to earth.

Long moments passed with their faces so close together, but not touching. Until Waverly lifted her head from the pillow and touched her forehead to Nicole's for a second before turning her face a little and kissing her again; somehow the intimacy of their own private touch seeming more than everything that had just passed.

Waverly ran one of her hands down Nicole's side, and then placed it patiently but questionning on her hip, until Nicole raised herself a little so that Waverly could sneak her hand between their bodies and down between Nicole's legs, and touch Nicole too. She looked up as she touched her, saw Nicole's eyes close and her small frown of concentration as Waverly worked her fingers. Watched her face with an aching sort of love, and took in every flicker of emotion as it crossed Nicole's face as she slowly rocked against Waverly, against Waverly's hand between her legs.

They were gentle this time, so gentle, not like the whirlwind they could be, not consumed by fire like they sometimes were. Waverly just watched her lover get closer and closer, shaky breaths turning into gasps, and then soft grunts. Until Nicole came with a shudder, and sank down onto Waverly, who with tears in her eyes wrapped her arms around her lover's back and just held her, just held her.

 

Day dawned, and it was time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** detailed spoilers for this chapter**
> 
> Ok, so basically what happens is that they realise the last set of revenants to get are some real fierce bad ones. They hatch a plan which would involve Waverly getting deliberately kidnapped, so they can find out where they are hidden. The problem being these revenants are particularly evil ones, and there's discussion that they'd likely torture her, and worse, given half a chance. I repeat, this does not happen. But there's a lot of discussion and angst around it, and when we meet the revenants in the next chapter, they pretty much lay out their intention for the 'and worse'.
> 
> If you don't fancy the sound of that (and if you don't I don't blame you, I'm slightly worried about myself that I dreamed it up in the first place frankly), then I'd suggest reading this chapter as far as the bit where Waverly and Nicole are leaving the celebration at Shorty's, hand in hand, and then you've got a choice: 
> 
> i) if you just want to skip the discussion around it all, but want to read sad-smut and the operation of the plan itself, which contains canon-level danger and action, like I say the suggestion of the nasty stuff but that not actually happening, then ctrl + F on this page for "The night before" and pick up there. You can read the next chapter from the start.
> 
> ii) if you don't want any part of it at all, including the execution of the plan, then go to the next chapter, and ctrl + F to "And then time came back".
> 
> ** end spoilers **
> 
> The jolly observant amongst you will realise that this all means I am adding yet another bloody chapter. Don't seem to be able to let this one go! I hope I haven't lost too many of you with this particularly grim installment. Much fluff and happiness awaits in the next and final chapter. I promise.


	7. Endings and Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang put their final desperate plan into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First a BIG REMINDER WARNING that the first action section of this chapter touches on some dark stuff, as we meet the final few revenants. It is mostly canon-appropriate level of danger, but there's one particularly nasty and potentially trigger-y bit, so please go back and read the pre and post notes to Chapter 6 for more details if you are at all worried about this. If you want to skip the action but read the conclusion to this story, ctrl + f for "And then time came back" and pick up there.
> 
> Now that's out the way - I just wanted to say how humbled and so grateful I am for the amazing responses to this story. There have been so many kind and insightful comments, and I just want to say again how thankful I am to everyone who's reading, leaving kudos, or taking the time to comment.  
> I still probably would've written this just for myself really, but I am beyond happy that all the idle daydreaming, and three-in-the-morning writing sessions have had an audience, and with it a better reason than just my own slight obsession with these characters :)

The Black Badge office was buzzing with activity. Busy with last minute preparations, everyone's concentration on putting on bullet proof vests, strapping equipment and radios to each other, and final checks of watches and timings, the atmosphere actually managed to stay more business-like than worried, and the emotional side of what they were doing had not yet begun to rise.

Dolls had actually sat them all down a couple of days before and matter-of-factly briefed them on emotions, as if it were just another weapons training session. He'd explained that the love between them all was one of the strengths that they had in their favour over the revenants, but that they couldn't afford for too much emotion on the day distracting from their drills for the plan. He'd actually used that word, _love_ , leading the two Earp sisters to meet each other's eye with raised eyebrows and affectionate, amused looks.

Still, when it was time to get Stage 1 of the plan underway, meaning time for Waverly to set out on her own to the planned kidnap site; time for each to say their own individual good luck and goodbye, it couldn't help but grow emotional.

 

Waverly started with Jeremy. He held out her final preparation, a tiny transmitter inside a pill for her to swallow. They'd considered kitting her out with as much protective gear as the rest of them, and trying to disguise it with heavy clothes. But realising this would be out of character and innately suspicious on this warm spring day, she was just in a simple sundress. The transmitter pill was a work-around, and would stay in her system long enough for her position to be tracked by GPS.

“Here, take this Waverly.”

“Thanks Jeremy. Oo, minty fresh!” Waverly smiled, genuinely pleased at this tiny consideration, whilst Jeremy beamed to have made her smile, on this of all days.

“I'll see you back here in a few hours, then.” Waverly reached out and squeezed his arm, nodded. “Good luck, little sister” he added in a voice too quiet for anyone but her to hear.

Doc next. He took off his hat, tilted his head as he and Waverly just looked into each other's eyes. Neither said anything, until Doc just shook his head and murmured, voice a little choked, “Wyatt would be _so_ proud.”

Dolls said goodbye and good luck and I love you, in the only way that Dolls could; by checking and rechecking she had the right time, was straight on the plan, had everything she needed. Waverly ended up laughing, and just going up to him and giving him a hug, and heard him fall silent, and return Waverly's goodbye with one short, heartfelt squeeze.

 

And that just left Wynonna and Nicole.

They both walked her out of the offices to her jeep, whether to see her off or just to put off the moment of parting, no-one asked. Outside, and with nothing left to delay the moment any further, Waverly walked up to Nicole.

They'd also talked and prepared for this moment, privately. They knew they couldn't afford to hold each other, or kiss, for danger of one or other losing their nerve completely. But Waverly gambled, and took Nicole's hands. She looked down at them for a long time as fingers clutched at fingers, then soothed and stroked, then clutched again. She eventually looked up at Nicole.

“Nicole? My love? You know how I'm always telling you that I don't need you to protect me? Well, today I do. Today I do need rescuing. Okay? Today, will you be my strong, brave, tough, capable cop girlfriend?”

Nicole's eyes carried a million words, spoken and unspoken. Of love, and fear, and pride, and sorrow, and a promise. She started to reply, her voice not coming at first until she cleared her throat.

“Of course. Of course. I will be there before you know it, Waves. I'll see you so soon, Waverly, so soon. I...I love you.”

They weren't supposed to say this.

“I love you too.” Waverly could feel the hot prickle of tears forming, and dropped Nicole's hands, clenching her own and forcing herself to take deep steady breaths until she was composed again. Risked one last look up at Nicole, and seeing the flood of emotions on her face, couldn't help herself but place one hand on her upper arm, and raise on tiptoes, and press a single kiss to Nicole's cheek.

She turned away then, struggling to breathe.

Wynonna let her be for a second. Until she saw her sister needed her to lend her her own strength to continue, and not to just stop, and turn, and hide herself in Nicole's arms, and let her carry her away from it all.

“Baby girl.”

Waverly turned to her sister, and pain met understanding in both of their eyes. Wynonna reached both hands up to grasp Waverly's shoulders, comforting her and steadying her.

“You are the bravest person I've ever known, Waverly.”

Waverly shook her head to start to disagree, but then allowed Wynonna to have this moment.

“You _are_. And you are more of an Earp than any of us, Wave. And...I love you, so so much.”

Wynonna wasn't much of one for protocol. Her sister was visibly struggling to keep herself together again, and suddenly looked so slight, and vulnerable. Like a breeze could blow her away, let alone what she had to face today. Wynonna stepped closer to her, and pulled her into a long, heartfelt hug.

She put all her big sister strength into the embrace, and could feel Waverly drawing on it. Like she had when they were little girls, and Wynonna was the only one Waverly could turn to against the demons and the horrors of the night. Wynonna could practically feel the moment at which her sister's steely resolve returned, and patted her back, whispering “Attagirl, Waves. Okay? You're okay. Ready?” She stepped back, still holding Waverly's shoulders with both hands and ducking her head, looking seriously into Waverly's eyes. “It's not too late to stop, baby girl?”

Waverly raised an eyebrow. “Are you frickin' kidding me with that right now, Wynonna?”

They actually laughed. Only siblings could be so simultaneously reassured and irked by each other in such a moment. The moment's levity gave Waverly the push she needed to take a step to her jeep and open the door. But she hesitated for one final minute, before getting inside. With a voice of false bravado, barely a hint of shakiness, "Ok. Well, that's me then! Good luck to all you guys. See you...see you soon.”

 

Wynonna and Nicole watched as Waverly's jeep pulled away and drove off, both unmoving until after it had rounded a corner and was out of sight. Wynonna turned then, and saw Nicole's stricken face.

Wynonna had never seen her look like this. For all her uniform, and kit, and immaculate preparedness for the day's plan, in that moment, she just looked lost.

“Dude. Nicole. C'mere.”

Wynonna put awkward arms around Nicole, and then felt her lean into the hug, and then return it, squeezing Wynonna back tightly. The two women stood and held each other for a long moment, taking what bleak comfort they could from the only other person who had any idea what it had taken to let Waverly go.

 

Their radios cracked, as Jeremy's voice came over from his station at Black Badges offices. “Stage 1 underway. Angelpants en route to the site.”

 

* * *

 

It was shaping up to be a hot, sunny day. Butterflies danced around the new season's wild flowers in the meadow grass. High above birds circled and screamed, and a heavy warm stillness lay like a blanket across the sweep of grassland that ran from rising hillocks in the west, to the beginning of a tree line in the east.

It would've been a beautiful day.

Waverly was lying on her front on her picnic blanket, legs swinging in the air. She had a book out in front of her, originally meant purely as a prop for her day sunbathing and reminiscing of that supposedly happy day with Nicole.

But with Waverly's astonishing powers of concentration she'd actually managed to start reading the book for real, and then found herself genuinely distracted by it, and for a moment she was just what she was pretending to be, an ordinary girl spending some quiet time on a warm sunny day.

 

A shadow fell across her back.

“Weeeell, and whatever do we have here now?”

Waverly spun round, and looked up at a man in ragged clothes, with dishevelled hair, and glowing, manic red eyes. She saw he was carrying a hunter's knife, serrated and stained with the blood of she didn't know what.

She screamed.

“You been spyin' on us? I should gut you right now, little girl."

He took a step, leaned down towards her.

“No, no, please, I don't mean any harm...” Waverly's mind raced on overdrive, as he weaved the knife back and forth in her face, leering. She panicked, realising if he killed her now it would all be for nothing. Hating herself for even having the idea, she forced her desperate thought into words.

“No, please don't hurt me, not like that, don't do that to me. I don't even go with men any more!”

The revenant stood up and laughed. “Oh, we know, little girl. We know what you _perverts_ get up to these days. In my day we used to teach girls like you a lesson, you know? Perhaps you need me to teach you it? Show you what you've been missing?”

Waverly didn't need to act her fear or revulsion, but just let it take her over, as she started to scramble backwards. She got to her feet and started to run, heard and felt the revenant close on her in a few steps, and then felt an arm grab her, another wrap around her and pull her off her feet and into the air. She screamed again, and struggled, adrenaline surging through her, and with all her wiry strength fought him off.

For a split second she realised she was actually winning the struggle, and was on the verge of actually getting away from him. With every bit of her internal willpower warring with her physical strength and panic she forced herself to weaken, to slacken, and then to finally give up. She didn't have to force the tears of terror as the revenant bundled her over his shoulder and headed down the slope towards the tree line.

“That's it, girly. Just let me bring you back, we'll all see what we want to do with you together...”

Jeremy's voice came over the radios at Dolls and Nicole's shoulders. “Phase 2 underway. Red team, cleared to try for visual. Blue team, await go order.”

Dolls put a steadying hand on Nicole's back. They were laid in brush at the edge of the tree-line, a safe distance away from where they guessed the revenants hide-out to be, and Nicole was practically thrumming with barely contained fear and nerves.

“Steady, Nicole. Steady. Let them get in position.”

The radio cracked as Wynonna's voice came through. “Red here. Doc's got a visual, they're heading just north of where we thought. Angelpants struggling but looks unhurt.”

Nicole let out a long exhale, risked eye contact and an almost smile with Dolls.

 

They waited. And waited.

 

“Blue team, go! Go for Phase 3!”

Nicole was up and running before Dolls had even stood, then he got underway and sprinted after her.

 

* * *

 

As Nicole ran, following the line of the trees north and the little red dot on the phone strapped to her arm that meant Waverly, a memory from the past flashed in her head.

It was the night her class had graduated the academy, and everyone was celebrating at the local bar where trainees and instructors alike drank. Tipsy and more than a little proud of herself for her achievements, she'd found herself separated from her peers, locked in conversation in a dark corner instead with one of the older, grimmer instructors.

“You've been something else in class, Haught. But you're not a cop yet. You're not a cop until you're in your first real shit. It's only then you'll know if you can hack it. You'll find out when you've got a gun to your face, and your partner down, and blood pounding in your head so hard you can't think. _That's_ graduation day, sweetheart.”

They reached just another anonymous looking part of the brush which gave up to the meadow, and slowed to a jog and then a stop. Puzzled, as they should practically be on top of Waverly's location now, but not seeing anything.

Until Dolls shouted. “Got it. See it? There!”

They never would have seen it until they were right on top, but once pointed out it was clear; a rectangular edge the size of a door on the sloping ground, covered in leaves and twigs like the ground around it, but now clearly distinguishable as a man-made boundary. Dolls and Nicole bent to the edges and heaved, and both felt their stomachs drop a little in fear at the sight of a rough stairway disappearing into dank darkness underground.

Dolls hit the button on his radio “Site identified, we're going in. Red team, get in place!”

The walls and roof of the cramped passage were lined with wood, and old style hurricane lamps every few yards threw weak light just enough to see by. As they took their first few ginger steps down into the hide-out, guns outstretched, the instructor's words echoed in Nicole's head. She felt a weird sense of calm descend, and stopped hearing her own heartbeat and started listening out for sounds around her; and felt like everything went into slow motion.

They advanced down the passage, taking turns covering each other at each corner, smooth and unspoken and efficient. Left turn, right turn, guns held steady, always following the red dot.

Round one more bend and a figure was suddenly at the other end of the dark passage. Nicole had let off a shot before she consciously knew it, and for a moment both were blinded by the flash in the dim light, regaining sight as they got to the body, seeing Nicole had caught him dead centre in the chest.

“Hold position Haught, I'm getting this one out.”

Dolls dragged the revenant back to the exit whilst Nicole took a defensive position in the passage, everything within her sight line, breathing fast but steady.

She heard the dragging sound as Dolls pulled the revenant outside to be dealt with by Wynonna, and then only the sound of her own heart and breathing. And then another sound, quiet, scraping.

She simultaneously dropped to her knees and spun, gun pointed up and out and she fired once, twice. She saw a knife clatter to the floor and then she felt something wet drop onto her. Saw the revenant's body suspended directly above her, where he'd hidden above them in a gap between a ceiling beam and the mud roof, ready to drop and attack.

Hit her radio. “Got another one. Dolls get back here!” She heard his heavy footsteps, running this time, and looked down to check the red dot's position a final time.

“We've got to go get her Dolls, if they've heard these shots...”

“Yeah, go, go!”

They forgot about all their trained-in caution, and just ran.

Finally the twisting passages gave way to rooms, and they searched in one, two. Empty, nothing. The third, and if Nicole's sense of time had been on slow motion, now it stopped all together.

Waverly was stood at the back of the room, hands tied above her head to another low ceiling beam, a gag in her mouth, struggling. Her eyes wide and fixed on the revenant who was walking towards her, knife in hand.

Two shots rang out simultaneously, and the revenant dropped. The rest of the world faded out as Nicole closed the distance to Waverly, pulled the gag out of her mouth, started working on the ropes with the heavy duty knife they'd kitted her out with for just this purpose, only now her hands starting to shake.

“Hey baby. Breathe, Nicole, breathe.” Waverly soothed as Nicole furiously worked to pull the last strands of the rope apart and away, and then she was free, and their hands found each other, and they ran.

Nicole led them twisting and turning through the passages, and heard Dolls lumbering behind them carrying the body of the third revenant, before he could reanimate again. They got to the body in the ceiling, and Nicole waved Dolls past, then said her first words to Waverly.

“Are you ok? Can you help me with this?”

Waverly was smiling from ear to ear, looking so so proud of Nicole, and amazingly unperturbed by her experience. They wrestled the revenant out of the ceiling, and grabbing a leg each, dragged him out behind them, following Dolls' path to the exit.

Finally they could see a shaft of real light up ahead, and before they knew it they were out, and Wynonna was laughing, and crying with relief, and put a bullet through the revenants' heads like it was an afterthought, and then Waverly was in her arms, and then she pushed her away, and Nicole grabbed her hand again, and they ran, sticking to the plan, up the slope towards a dip in the landscape amongst the first hillocks where they'd stashed a first aid kit and water.

They flung themselves down on the ground, and then, only then, Nicole turned to Waverly, and let herself see her, and believe she was really there, and then Waverly was on her, and their arms wrapped around each other, and laughter bubbled out of them in joy and relief, and then Nicole remembered herself, and, still looking at Waverly, looking at her like she'd never look away again, hit the button on her radio.

“Phase 3 complete, we're out and in safety position. Move to Phase 4!”

Jeremy's voice came over the radio “Received. Is she ok?!” Waverly leant over to Nicole's radio, and, still laughing, pressed the button. “I'm ok, Jeremy, I'm ok!”

 

Phase 4 was where Doc came in. Three revenants down, the other two hidden somewhere inside. No-one knew where, and with Waverly out, it was no longer an acceptable risk to be running around the inside of a maze the revenants knew like the back of their hand.

But you can smoke cockroaches out.

Doc went inside with his fuses, his gunpowder, and his dynamite, calling out with a wild and happy grin, “This is Phase 4 boys, I hope you like it a lot!”

 

Nicole and Waverly watched it from their vantage point up the slope. They were lying on their fronts, just one hand clasping each other's in front of them on the grass. They saw the small figures of Dolls and Wynonna outside the entrance, in planned position. Wynonna was slightly behind Dolls, with him to let off the first shot to bring any exiting revenant down, Wynonna to follow up with the kill, or to act as back-up if anything went wrong with Dolls.

There was a long stretching silence, strange now after the rush of the action. And then they heard a loud but muffled whump, and saw the ground above the revenant's hide-out jump slightly. Then smoke started coming out of patches of ground all around the site, first in wisps, and then in billows.

“Where's Doc?” said Waverly in an urgent voice.

Nicole looked at her, worried. “I don't know. He's supposed to be out before setting off the charges.”

They held eye contact for a second. And then they both knew what was coming.

“Something's wrong.” Nicole stated the fact, got to her knees, handed Waverly the knife she'd used to cut Waverly's bonds, then rose to her feet. “Stay here, okay? I can't do this and worry about you too.”

Waverly shook her head in frustration, but knew they couldn't waste a second, and Nicole read her reluctant permission in her eyes, and then turned and started to run. Waverly just watched as Nicole ran down the slope again; long, easy steps carrying her love straight back into danger.

 

As Nicole got to the entrance Dolls and Wynonna were already arguing.

“We've got to hold position, Earp! Stick to the plan, we all agreed we'd stick to the plan!”

“Screw the plan, Doc's inside!”

Nicole slowed, allowed herself to catch her breath a second. “Dolls, you're right, you need two of you outside. There's two left, we can't risk one getting away. Wynonna – _you're_ right, someone needs to go in for Doc.”

She didn't wait for an answer, and ignored Wynonna's call behind her as she made for the entrance.

“Nicole! _I'm_ gonna kill you if they don't!”

 

As Nicole descended into the passage she could already feel the oppressive heat of the fire inside pushing back at her like a physical thing, and the harsh smell of smoke seeping past her almost made her gag. She ducked low, gun out in front of her, the guidance beam of light from its built-in torch throwing a rope line down the tunnel through the smoke.

She edged forward, to the first bend, eyes watering, and then dropping almost to her knees, made out shadowy figures stood at the other end of the tunnel. She couldn't understand how they were bearing the heat and the smoke, and then saw that they weren't, and in fact they were edging towards her.

Doc was first, coughing and spluttering and struggling, and behind him one shadowy figure, and then behind them, another. She could just about make out a knife to Doc's throat, and his body twisted in what looked like pain as arms were bent back behind him in a high hold.

She thought fast. And started backing out. Slowly, they backed round the corner, back into the entrance passage. Smoke was still following them, but a little lighter in this section, and for the first time she could make out the red glowing eyes of the revenants. She knew she must just be a silhouette against the daylight behind her.

“You're gonna let us out, girl, or your friend here gets it in the neck!”

“That's not going to happen. Let him go!” Nicole shouted back.

“Nicole? Is Waverly alright?” Nicole almost laughed to hear what Doc chose as first words in this situation.

“She's fine Doc. You?”

“ _Shut_ up!” shouted the second revenant. “You're gunna put down your gun, and you're gunna let my friend here walk out with yours, and then you're gonna let me walk out with you.”

Nicole stared down the sights of her gun. There was no way she could get a clean shot off. The revenants were thin, wiry, and smaller than Doc; and using him well as a shield to cover both of them. Doc was twisting and wrestling with them, as they yanked his arm up higher behind his back. She could only see flashes of their faces behind, and between the shadowy dark, and the smoke, and the hammering of her heart, for the first time that day she doubted herself.

“Doc?”

“ _Shoot_ , Nicole. Shoot through me if you need to. Do it for Alice, _please_. Do it for Wynonna. Do it for me.”

The first revenant laughed disdainfully. “You won't shoot, girl. I know you lawman types. You think you're so good, so pure? You're too good to risk shooting one of your _friends_.” The last word was dripping with disdain and hatred, and Nicole thought she saw him actually spit, after spitting out the word.

Nicole took a breath, steadied herself, zeroed her concentration in on the red eyes she could see dancing at the end of the passage. Let the calmness she felt earlier descend, felt time dilate again.

“That's where you're wrong, asshole. I'm too good not to.”

She squeezed the trigger, and saw with momentary horror Doc jerk back, until she saw the revenant that had been holding him grasping at the side of his face and roaring in pain, and Doc just thrown off balance from the release of the hold. He quickly came to his senses and pulled at the revenant, down and out of Nicole's line of vision, and she let off another shot, and the revenant behind went down.

She took a few steps down the passage, coughing hard against the thickening smoke, to see Doc on his knees punching hard at the revenant on the ground, and then they were both grabbing a body each, and dragging, crouched low to the ground, wheezing and spluttering through the smoke, until they were halfway up and out the entrance, and then hands were reaching in and pulling on them, and on the heavy inert bodies in their grasp, and then they were all pulled out into fresh air, and Nicole collapsed, rolled over and away, coughing and gasping for breath, and heard one shot, and then two, and saw in her peripheral vision hell-fires pulling and burning, and then fading back into normal grass again.

She rolled over once more, pulled herself up to her knees, to see Wynonna, both arms aloft in the air in a victory salute and with a look of complete joyful astonishment on her face.

And then time came back to normal speed, and Dolls was running over to Wynonna, and picking her up, and swinging her around in the air, so fast they both lost balance and fell to the ground, laughing. She saw Doc in the same posture as herself, sat back on his knees and taking in great gulps of air, but then saw his head tip back, and heard him let out the loudest “Yaaaahoo!” that had been heard since the old wild west.

And then she looked up the hill and her heart jumped as she saw Waverly streaking down the slope towards them, detouring past the heap of bodies that included Wynonna and Dolls, and Doc now too, touching each of them, grasping her sister's hand for a second, and then she turned, and fixed her gaze on Nicole, and Nicole sat on her haunches feeling a smile splitting her face, and waiting for the impact, and Waverly just flung herself at Nicole, and it was their turn to fall back to the grass together, laughing again, and then Waverly reached up and around and wove her hand tightly into the hair at the nape of Nicole's head; and then pulled her into a searing kiss. And Nicole felt the rest of the world fade out again, this time for the best reason she'd ever had, for the only reason she'd ever had; and, lying on her side with her love in her arms, safe and solid and warm and real, she kissed Waverly deeply back.

She heard a loud 'Ahem!' from behind, and broke the kiss for a second, but didn't make any attempt to move away from Waverly, didn't stop basking in the joy and love that was pouring from Waverly's sparkling eyes. She let Waverly respond for the both of them.

“Wynonna?”

“Yes, baby girl?”

“It's rude to interrupt.”

Nicole laughed as she felt the hand at the back of her head pull again, and she let herself be guided back into the wonder of Waverly's kiss.

 

* * *

 

Nicole stood in the shower, turning her head slowly from left to right under the water, and enjoying the simple pleasure of being clean. Enjoyed the feeling of the hot water coursing down her head and her back, helping to wash away the fear and nerves of the day.

Wynonna and Doc, practically buzzing out of their skin had wanted to head straight to Shorty's for a much needed drink. But Waverly had pointed out that half of them were filthy, stained with soot and blood and mud, and that it might be nice for them to start the celebration of the first day of the rest of their lives in clean clothes. So they all had decamped home, with a promise to meet up in Shorty's that evening.

Nicole heard a tap on the bathroom door. Through the frosting of the shower cubicle door she could just about make out the shape of Waverly wrapped in a blue towel enter the room. The shape came closer, and then there was another soft, quiet double tap of a knock on the shower door.

Nicole pulled back the door a fraction. "Hey beautiful."

"Hey you. I missed you. Just wondered if there was room in there for one more...?"

Nicole stepped back, grinning as Waverly's face went from shy and a little embarrassed, to excited and anticipatory. She pulled on the towel that was wrapped around her, and Nicole saw it slip, fall from her and pool on the floor. Nicole looked up and down Waverly, feeling her mouth go dry a little. She made room in the shower, as Waverly took a step up into to the cubicle.

And leaned into the shower, and leaned into Nicole, and closed her eyes, and softly, kissed her.

Long long moments passed as both just let the sensation of lips on lips marry with the warmth of water striking and running down their bodies, naked and pressed against each other. Until they drew back; for once Waverly's hands at Nicole's hips, Nicole's arms draped loosely around Waverly's shoulders.

Waverly closed her eyes for a second, and just listened to the sound of water cascading on and around them. She let her focus drift from the sound of the water to the feeling of what Nicole's skin felt like under her hands. Then on what it felt like where their bodies were touching.

She opened her eyes, and looked down at the sight of their breasts pressed into each other's; with Nicole's height, a little out of kilter. Watched for a moment, hypnotised, the water running down and pooling and then falling around the swell where they met. She shivered.

"You okay there, Wave?" Nicole said, in a teasing whisper.

Waverly couldn't speak. Just nodded, bit her lip, and started to move her hands a little around Nicole's hips and waist, light touches, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin and the warm water coursing down it. Very very aware that Nicole was just standing, watching her, letting her take her time and her pleasure.

As she let her hands start to caress and smooth a broader path over more of Nicole's body, her mind wandered back to the days before she and Nicole had first been together.

She remembers being nervous. Not apprehensive, or worried; she knew from the way she felt when kissing Nicole that taking it further couldn't be anything but amazing. But she was nervous, definitely. She didn't really know what she would do once they were actually there. And if she was honest, there was a tiny part of her that wondered if being with another girl would somehow make her feel like something else. Maybe like less of a girl herself?

Nicole leant down in the shower, and they started to kiss.

Waverly had discovered that in fact it was the opposite. The way Nicole looked at her, and treated her in bed made her feel so beautiful. It was true, that she didn't feel like a girl; but this was because being with Nicole made her feel like a _woman_. For the first time in her life she felt like she was beginning to understand and truly inhabit her whole body, and fully explore its capacity for pleasure. With Nicole she discovered things she didn't even know there had been to discover.

And as for how it felt making love to Nicole? She needn't have been worried about what she was going to do. It all came so so naturally, and the incredible response from Nicole would make her heart clench in love and satisfaction every time. She fast became an expert; and then an addict.

As the water fell on and around them, their hands started to grip at each other a little more hungrily, Nicole's arms wrapping around a little tighter, pulling Waverly firmly into her, Waverly arching into her, deepening their kisses.

And once they were confident in what they were doing, once they were experienced, and Waverly had had her eyes opened to all the wonders and options of being with Nicole, she started to also feel something new. Something she'd only ever felt safe enough to feel with Nicole.

Waverly subtly twisted their bodies, and Nicole took the hint, and they reversed positions until Waverly was at the back of the shower cubicle. She felt rather than heard a low chuckle as Nicole pressed into her, and then started kissing down her neck.

Their lovemaking was based on mutual desire, and both gave of themselves. But sometimes, sometimes, Waverly wanted to just give herself completely. And in letting Nicole take, Waverly discovered she got so much back in return.

Waverly found one of Nicole's hands, and pulled it up to lay on her breast. Swallowed hard at the sensation of it as Nicole caressed and teased, whilst Nicole's kisses moved down onto her shoulder, nibbling down to her collarbone. She barely wriggled her body, and somehow Nicole understood, and moved the hand down her body, down her stomach, teasing for a second, letting a soft touch become a scrape of blunt fingernails just for a moment, before Nicole's hand came to rest, for a moment just on top of Waverly, between her legs. Then one finger slipped down, and put light but definite pressure on her clit.

Sometimes, she just wanted Nicole to take.

Waverly let out a sigh, a plea. "Nicole... _please_..."

Nicole shifted their position, a little awkward in the constrained space, wrapped an arm firmly around Waverly's back, leant into her to keep her pinned steady between Nicole's body and the wall of the shower cubicle.

And then she lowered herself a little, reached down further, and with two straight fingers, pushed deep inside Waverly.

Waverly moaned, letting out a long, gasping 'ahhhhh', as the incredible sensation of Nicole's fingers pressing deep inside her lit sparks across her body. She felt her hips instantly start jerking in response, wanting more, drawing Nicole in further. As Nicole started off a rhythm Waverly felt herself drift off to the place she went to sometimes, her whole body and mind focussed on what she was feeling, on the sound of Nicole's heavy breaths, hearing her own half words and yesses and curses. She let herself experience the sensation of the water pouring down Nicole's body as it pressed into and moved against hers, unsure where the hot shower water and their own sweat and wet heat began or ended; as Nicole just moved in and against her, hard and deep and so, so right. Waverly felt herself get higher and higher and higher, and then, almost without warning, the shivering of all her senses combined into one crashing wave of sensation, and she was coming, hard and long, jerking and shivering and crying out.

The waves of orgasm faded, and with it Waverly felt her strength fade too. She barely registered that her shaking legs were not doing much to support her weight; and that in fact Nicole was practically holding her up, both arms now wrapped tightly around her back, letting the press of her body into Waverly support her up against the wet tile of the bathroom wall. Nicole was still breathing heavily, and Waverly could still feel chills and shivers continue to run up and down her body, as she slowly came back to herself.

"You okay, Waves?" Nicole eventually whispered.

Waverly couldn't speak yet, so just let her head fall forwards onto one of Nicole's shoulders.

"Mmmmmm _hmm_."

"You wanna maybe lie down for a minute?"

She nodded into Nicole, and, slowly feeling her strength come back, they turned off the water, grabbed a couple of dry towels, and made it through to their bedroom; collapsing together into a tangle of limbs and love.

Waverly lay within the circle of Nicole's arms, feeling so safe, and just so completely and utterly content. She realised she was starting to drop off to sleep, but before she did she made a point of looking carefully at Nicole's face, inches from hers, looking back at her. She looked like she always looked after they made love like that, completely satisfied and relaxed and focussed and loving, and, to Waverly's private and fond amusement, more than a little pleased with herself.

But there was something else now too, something new. Waverly couldn't place it for a second, and let her eyes drift shut, that amazing look on Nicole's face still held in her minds eye as she felt sleep start to fall down on her like a heavy blanket.

Just before it did, some part of her worked it out.

It was simple. Nicole was just _happy_.

 

* * *

 

So that evening they all met at Shorty's, and started the celebration of their lives.

The whole operation team were there, and Rosita joined them too, a display of trust that was rewarded by warm hugs first from Wynonna, and then all of them. Nedley was to drop by later, and though no-one else understood the reason for the unfettered joy and aspect of celebration about the group, the Shorty's regulars still felt the mood and got into the same spirit, everyone losing count of who was buying who's drinks, and the party atmosphere in the bar building and building.

They'd started off at one long table all together, as they ordered food, and drank their first few beers, laughing and joking, hugs and slaps of backs punctuating the gathering when words for their happiness failed again. Wynonna and Waverly sat next to each other, wearing matching expressions of delighted incredulity, and turning to each other with regularity, even Waverly for once lost for words to describe what they were feeling, and having to settle for grins and hugs instead.

As these nights go, as the drinks went down the group got looser, freer, and dispersed round the bar for games of pool, or chats and flirtations with randoms, and for drinks and then more drinks.

At one point Waverly asked Nicole if she wanted to dance, which was a bit of a joke really as neither the music nor the crowd in the bar was at all suitable for it. It was fairly transparently an excuse for touch, but everyone was more than happy to let them, understanding the depth of what they'd been through both that day, and the weeks that came before it.

They adopted some approximation of a dance pose, but a close one, and started a slow sway and rotation to the music. It was not too long before Waverly just leaned completely into Nicole, and they almost gave up the pretence of movement entirely.

"I was so proud of you today, love. You were so _brave_."

Waverly felt rather than saw the shrug. "I was just following the plan, Wave."

"No. No, I don't mean that. I mean..."

"Going in for Doc?" Nicole pulled back a little, and they met eyes again, a long moment passing as they forgot the conversation for a minute, content to simply bask in the warmth of each other's smiles.

"No. Not even that. I mean, yes, of course that was so brave, and I'm so so proud of you for that, Nicole. But, well, you're _you_. Of course you were going to do that."

Nicole looked down at her, a little puzzled for a second.

"No, I mean." Waverly looked up at Nicole with a gentle expression of love and understanding. "For letting me go in the first place. That was the hardest part, right? _Thank you_ , Nicole."

Not for the first time, Nicole was floored by Waverly.

Throughout her life, there had always been one or two people who had seen into Nicole. Understood what made her tick, and who she was. A couple of teachers at school, an instructor at the academy, now Nedley. They saw and understood her obvious ability, her sense of duty, and that her straightforward ethics was not a weakness or sign of lack of intelligence, but her greatest strength and motivator. And these people had allowed her to first show all this, and then helped her to consciously develop it.

But she'd always thought it was odd when they congratulated her on it. It just _was_. It was like her being tall, or a redhead. It was just who she was.

Waverly saw all of it too, of course, and Nicole knew that it was a big part of what made Waverly love her. But she was the first person she'd ever met who got that it was not something to be congratulating her for.

Waverly was the first and only person who could understand that letting Waverly go that morning, taking no action, and letting control for the most important thing in her life slip out of her hands, was a hundred times harder for her than wrestling with murderous revenants in a fire-filled death trap.

Nicole swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat. Just about managed to whisper a reply.

"Yes. That was the hardest part."

Waverly's eyes shone, either with tears or just with the love and emotion of the day, Nicole couldn't be sure.

"And that's how I know our marriage..." she trailed off for a second, shaking her head with a happy disbelieving look for a second, before gathering her breath and pressing on. "Our marriage is really going to work, Nicole. Because you don't just do the things for me that you already want to do. You do the things that I really _ask_ you for. I've...I've never had anyone be like that for me."

Nicole struggled to put all she was feeling into words. 

"And I've never...I've never known anyone get me like you do, Waves." It wasn't much of an explanation for how Nicole was feeling, but she thought she saw an understanding look in her lover's eyes nonetheless. Nicole smiled a sigh, and added the obvious. "I love you. So, so much."

It was too much. Waverly leant fully back into Nicole, and felt her arm tighten around her, and for a minute, they just closed their eyes and held each other; barely swaying to the music as they just let their closeness and touch ground them, let the emotions flow into each other and then settle, quieten.

Eventually they pulled back, and looked at each other again. Waverly had a wry look on her face.

"Do you remember that time we fought Nicole? I said that kissing you was like a fairytale? I think today might have topped it, you know."

Nicole laughed. "What, the heroes kill the monster and rescue the princess, and the girl gets the girl, and they all live happily ever after?"

Waverly giggled. "Yep. Exactly that."

Nicole laughed softly too. And then looked thoughtful. "You know what I'm looking forward to, Waves?"

A curious shake of the head.

"I'm looking forward to closing the book on that story. I'm looking forward to starting a new one, with you."

Waverly took a deep, shaky, happy breath. Said in a whisper, "The adventures of Waverly and Nicole?"

Nicole smiled again. "Yeah. Yeah. I like the sound of that."

They looked into each other's eyes, and then Waverly moved her hand from where it had been resting at Nicole's shoulder, up and around to the back of Nicole's neck, and Nicole's eyes drifted shut, and she leant down, and Waverly tilted her face up to her, and their foreheads brushed briefly, and then their noses bumped, and then, finally, they let their lips meet in a soft, tender kiss.

 

Across the room Dolls and Doc were giving Wynonna a night off their competing testosterone, instead pitching friendly battle against each other in a series of games of darts, cards, and pool. Jeremy was more than happy to slot in her place, contentedly playing the role of the observer and impressed party, as they bantered and drank and showed off.

Rosita was behind the bar, confusing the hell out of the bar hand Bobbi, showing her both a range of new cocktail recipes, and a side order of flirtation that Bobbi found she liked rather more than she was expecting.

Wynonna was, to the surprise of all of them, mostly sober, and right now was on the phone. She'd gone off at regular intervals that night to try to track down Gus, and having finally managed it she was now talking her through everything that happened. One minute laughing and joking, the next minute crying happy tears, as she started to make real plans to come and get Alice, and in doing so feeling the reality and magnitude of what they had all lived through and achieved sink in.

And Waverly and Nicole stood in the middle of them all, and kissed, and kissed, and kissed. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) :) :)
> 
> God it felt good to be able to give them this happy end. I hope this makes up for all the crap I put them through in last few chapters?
> 
> I am honestly not angling for 'no no, please don't stop' comments, but just wanted to say that I think this might be my last one of these. For a little while, anyway.  
>  _Heartbeat_ was just an AU idea that I couldn't make go away any other way but writing it, plus an exercise to see how I'd get on with prose. _Not a First Time Story_ was my love-letter to all things canon. And this?
> 
> Well, I swear on my life it started off as a pretty tightly plotted, four chapter wish fulfilment exercise before Season 3 starts and potentially buggers everything up for them (fingers, toes, everything crossed that it doesn't.) I basically was thinking, oo, wouldn't it be nice if Waves and Nicole could move in together. And wouldn't it be, well not exactly nice, but good for them, if they could fight and then actually get a chance to talk and work it through, in a way they haven't been able to on the show. And then, wouldn't it be nice if they could help end the curse? (And, am not gonna lie, wouldn't it be nice if they could have lots and lots of lovely sex in the process...!)
> 
> But I dunno guys, I just love these characters so much, and there is so much to them and their relationship to explore which the show either won't or can't find time for. Hence, the eventual length of this one. I do think that with this enormous splurge of a story I may now actually have got most of my thoughts on them out of my head and down in narrative. Which is a relief, but also means I'm not sure I've got much left to say on the topic!
> 
> But, I said all this after I finished my first fic, and I'd started another within a week. So never say never eh? ;-)
> 
> Massive massive thanks again for anyone reading this story (and these notes!) to the end. It is such a pleasure writing for this fandom, everyone has been so lovely. I hope y'all got half as much enjoyment from reading this as I did writing it!


End file.
